Wagner, Kunieda and Kamiji top world rankings

American and Japanese duo finish 2014 atop the wheelchair tennis world rankings. 24 Dec 2014
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David Wagner

American David Wagner won quads doubles gold at the last London 2012 Paralympic Games and silver in the singles event.

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By ITF

“I am looking forward to next year and competing and representing the quad division all around the world. I want to thank my family and friends who have always supported me, as well as thank the USTA and the USOC for their continued support as well."

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced that the USA’s David Wagner is the year-end world No. 1 wheelchair tennis player for the quad singles and doubles in 2014.

While Shingo Kunieda and Yui Kamiji of Japan are the year-end No. 1 men’s and women’s singles players, Stephane Houdet of France and Kamiji finish the year at No. 1 in the men’s and women’s wheelchair doubles disciplines respectively.

Wagner finishes 2014 as the year-end world No. 1 quad singles player for the seventh time since 2005 and for the fifth year in succession. He is also the year-end No. 1 quad doubles player for the 11th successive year.

The Californian won nine quad singles titles on the 2014 UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour, including the Australian Open, three of the year’s six Super Series titles and three ITF 1 Series titles. Wagner completed the year by winning his seventh NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters quad singles title and also won the men’s singles title at the ITF Futures Series Indian Wells Tennis Garden Wheelchair Championships.

He ends 2014 with a win-loss record of 49-9 in quad singles competition.

Wagner said: “It's a real honour to receive the year-end No. 1 singles award for the seventh time and the No. 1 doubles award for the eleventh time. I am happy with my results for this year in both singles and doubles.

“I am looking forward to next year and competing and representing the quad division all around the world. I want to thank my family and friends who have always supported me, as well as thank the USTA and the USOC for their continued support as well. Go Hawks!” added Wagner, a keen fan of 2014 Super Bowl champions the Seattle Seahawks. He was recently named Athlete of the Month for November by the US Olympic Committee after winning his seventh NEC Masters title in London.

Wagner won 11 doubles titles during 2014. Six of his doubles titles during the season came with fellow American Nick Taylor, including the US Open crown, which they won for the sixth time and the UNIQLO Wheelchair Doubles Masters title, which they won as a partnership for the eighth time since 2005.

As well as two Grand Slam titles and the season-ending Doubles Masters, Wagner clinched four Super Series doubles titles and four ITF 1 Series titles and won his11 doubles titles during 2014 with five different partners. He ends 2014 with a doubles win-loss record of 32-6 in quad doubles competition. It is the seventh time Wagner has finished as the year-end quad singles and quad doubles world No. 1 in the same year.

Houdet is the year-end men’s doubles No. 1 player for the sixth season in a row after winning 12 doubles titles on the 2014 UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour and making history as the first wheelchair player to won all four men’s doubles Grand Slam titles in the same season. He won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open with Kunieda, while partnering Joachim Gerard to victory at Roland Garros.

Houdet also won three Super Series titles and partnered Gerard to claim the men’s doubles title at the UNIQLO Wheelchair Doubles Masters, becoming the first player to win the year-end doubles championship event for three years in succession. Houdet also won four ITF 1 Series doubles titles and claimed his 12 doubles titles during the season with three different doubles partners, ending the year with a doubles win-loss record of 43-4.

Kamiji is the year-end world No. 1 women’s doubles player for the first time after winning a total of eight doubles titles on the 2014 UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour, including completing the calendar year Grand Slam with Great Britain’s Jordanne Whiley. Kamiji went to the top of the women’s doubles rankings after she and Whiley claimed victory at Roland Garros.

Kamiji and Wniley became the first non-Dutch partnership to the win full set of all four Grand Slam wheelchair women’s doubles titles, emulating a feat previously achieved by Jiske Griffioen and Aniek van koot and Esther Vergeer partnering both Korie Homan and Sharon Walraven.

Kamiji also won the Melbourne Open partnering fellow Japanese player Kanako Domori and BNP Paribas Open de France and British Open Super Series titles partnering Dutchwomen Marjolein Buis and Aniek van Koot resepctively. She ended 2014 with a doubles win-loss record of 27-7.