International Tennis Federation honour comes the way of quadriplegic wheelchair tennis champs

Finally international recognition comes the way of quadriplegic wheelchair tennis champions!

The International Tennis Federation has announced that the quadriplegic wheelchair tennis division will be recognised in its annual list of World Champions. The 2017 ITF World Champions will be announced in December, and the winners will be awarded at the annual ITF World Champions Dinner in Paris on June 2018.

This is a prestigious honour, and the quad wheelchair world champion will join the men’s and women’s wheelchair world champions. The ITF also honours men’s and women’s singles and doubles world champions, and boys’ and girls’ junior world champions.

Players are eligible to compete in the wheelchair tennis quad division if they have a permanent physical disability leading to a major loss of function in three or more extremities.

United States’ David Wagner and Great Britain’s Andy Lapthorne, are both in the race for the number one ranking. Both players will meet at the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters in Loughborough, Great Britain next month.

The world champion honour has been given by the ITF to other disabled categories, including wheelchair tennis in 1991 and doubles in 1996. Past world champions in wheelchair tennis include 13-time world champion Esther Vergeer of Netherlands, and 2016 winners Gordon Reid (UK) and Jiske Griffioen (Netherlands)