Players on the Tennis Foundation Wheelchair Tennis Performance Programme will ensure that there is British representation in all three divisions at the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters for the first time in the tournament's history as the ITF announced the entries today.
Gordon Reid, Lucy Shuker and Andy Lapthorne have all qualified for the men's, women's and quad events respectively at the year-end singles event to be held in Mechelen, Belgium from November 7 – 11.
British No.1 Reid has risen to a career high world No. 8 this week to take the final qualification spot for the elite men's field while Shuker has also moved to No. 7 in the rankings and qualifies for the prestigious event for the third time since 2008.
London 2012 silver medallist Andy Lapthorne, who was runner-up on his debut at the NEC Masters in 2011, is the current world No.4 to guarantee his place in the draw of four for the quad division. His doubles partner Peter Norfolk also qualified for the event but is unable to compete due to injury.
Reid won the first Super Series title of his career on Sunday when he partnered Frenchman Stephane Houdet to win the men's doubles at the US Open USTA Championships, while Reid's progress to the singles semi-finals, in which he pushed world No. 1 Houdet close in three tough sets, ensured he rose two places in the rankings to clinch his place.
Shuker regained a place in the world's top eight after starting two weeks of tournaments in the USA with victory in the women's singles at the PTR Championships and she improved her ranking even further by reaching her first singles final at Super Series level in St. Louis.
"After the success of the London 2012 Paralympic Games and Gordon and Lucy's tremendous results at the US Open Super Series last week, the players deserve their place at the Singles Masters," said Geraint Richards, the Tennis Foundation's Head of Disability Player Performance.
"We want to build on the Paralympics to enjoy even more success and through a lot of hard work and talent, we are confident our players can take on the world's best next month in Belgium."
Find out more about the NEC Singles Masters.
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