The All England Club have announced the four men’s and four ladies’ pairings for the Wheelchair Tennis Doubles events at The 125th Championships, Wimbledon, 2011.
Defending champions Robin Ammerlaan of the Netherlands and Stefan Olsson of Sweden return to try and retain the Wimbledon men’s doubles title, having recently finished as runners-up at the French Open at Roland Garros for the second successive year.
Reigning US Open champions and Wheelchair Tennis Doubles Masters champions Maikel Scheffers and Ronald Vink will bid for their first Wimbledon title as a pairing, with Vink having already won the event in 2007 and 2008, partnering Ammerlaan to victory on both occasions.
Beijing Paralympic Games men’s doubles champions Stephane Houdet and Michael Jeremiasz pair up at Wimbledon for the first time since winning the title in 2009.
Meanwhile the men’s doubles Wild Card has been awarded to Dutchman Tom Egberink, who is making his Wimbledon debut, and world No.1 singles player Shingo Kunieda, who partnered his Japanese compatriot Satoshi Saida to victory at Wimbledon in 2006. Kunieda has been in the partnership finishing as runners-up on three occasions since then.
Esther Vergeer and Sharon Walraven of the Netherlands head the entries for the Ladies’ Doubles as they bid to retain their title. Vergeer and Walraven recently completed a career full-house of Grand Slam doubles title after winning the French Open at Roland Garros, a tournament they had finished runners-up in 2010 before going on to end last season with both the Wimbledon and US Open titles and starting 2011 by winning the Australian Open.
Vergeer is currently unbeaten at Wimbledon, having been a part of the winning pairing for the inaugural Ladies’ Doubles event in 2009. Fellow all-Dutch pairing of Australian Open and French Open runners-up Jiske Griffioen and Aniek van Koot are among the opposition.
Lucy Shuker and Jordanne Whiley become the first all-British pairing to play in the Ladies’ Doubles at Wimbledon.
British No 1 Shuker has reached the final for the past two years partnering Australia’s Daniela di Toro, while 19-year-old British No.2 Whiley makes her playing debut at Wimbledon this year, having previously been chosen to perform the coin toss for the Ladies Singles’ final 2008 between Serena and Venus Williams. Whiley has already made her Australian Open and French Open debuts in 2011.
Belgium’s Annick Sevenans and her Dutch partner Marjolein Buis have been awarded the Wild Card for the ladies’ doubles. Sevenans partnered van Koot to third place in the four team Wimbledon event in 2010, while Buis makes her Wimbledon debut in 2011.
A total of £30,000 in prize money is on offer in 2011 for the Wheelchair Tennis Doubles events at The Championships.
ENTRIES
(entries based on combined doubles rankings as of Monday, 16 May 2011. Figures in brackets denote individual player doubles rankings at entry deadline)
Gentlemen’s Wheelchair Doubles
Maikel Scheffers (NED) (2) and Ronald Vink (NED) (5)
Stephane Houdet (FRA) (1) and Michael Jeremiasz (FRA) (10)
Robin Ammerlaan (NED) (3) and Stefan Olsson (SWE) (9)
Shingo Kunieda (JPN) (4) and Tom Egberink (NED) (8) (Wild Card)
Ladies’ Wheelchair Doubles
Sharon Walraven (NED) (1) and Esther Vergeer (NED) (3)
Jiske Griffioen (NED) (2) and Aniek van Koot (NED) (5)
Lucy Shuker (GBR) (6) and Jordanne Whiley (GBR)
(9) Annick Sevenans (BEL) (7) and Marjolein Buis (NED) (8) (Wild Card)
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