Bingham’s two-time Paralympic wheelchair tennis player David Phillipson is relishing his return to action in France next month after a training camp earlier this month in La Manga, Spain, funded by the Tennis Foundation and UK Sport through National Lottery support for player and coach development on the road to Rio 2016.
Phillipson is just three weeks away from his targeted seasonal debut at the ITF 3 Series Open de Vendee in Roche sur Yon in mid-May after tendonitis delayed his start to 2014, but that still hasn’t stopped him from collecting awards, even while not competing.
The British No. 3 was honoured for Best International Individual Performance at February’s Nottinghamshire LTA Annual Awards after a 2013 season that included a victory over world No. 7 Michael Jeremiasz of France to reach the men’s singles semi-finals of October’s ITF 1 Series Nottingham Indoor.
Phillipson, who retains his place at No. 17 in the world rankings despite his last tournament having been in November, is looking to his upcoming French tournament to launch another successful season that will include returning to Nottingham Tennis Centre again in July and November.
“Training’s been going really well and I’m feeling strong and have made a lot of progress with the things I’ve been working during my time away from tournament,” said Phillipson. “I loved La Manga, not least because it gave me and my coach Mat Lowe the chance to get together with a lot of the other top British players and train together. There was a lot to get in over the five days and it would be great to do it again, but I’ve come back raring to go and I can’t wait to get competing again.”
With ranking points to defend across Europe over the summer, Phillipson’s schedule includes the British Open in July, one of just six Super Series tournaments, which will once again be held at Nottingham Tennis Centre organised by the Tennis Foundation.