Entries for Australian Open announced

The players who will compete in the first wheelchair tennis Grand Slam of the year have been named with Japan’s Shingo Kunieda and Yui Kamiji the headliners. 10 Jan 2015
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A woman in a wheelchair hits a tennis ball as a backhand.

After making her Paralympic debut at London 2012, Japan's Yui Kamiji is steadily rising in the women's wheelchair tennis singles rankings.

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By ITF

The year’s first Grand Slam event again features the top seven ranked men's and women's players and the top three ranked quad players as of the entry cut-off date, as well as one wild card in each event.

Japanese duo Shingo Kunieda and Yui Kamiji will headline the men’s and women’s fields for the Australian Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships 2015 at Melbourne Park on 28-31 January, with the USA’s David Wagner heading the field for the quad event.

The year’s first Grand Slam event again features the top seven ranked men's and women's players and the top three ranked quad players as of the entry cut-off date, as well as one wild card in each event.

Germany's Katharina Kruger has received the wild card for the women's event, while 2013 US Open champion Lucas Sithole of South Africa has received the wild card for the quad event. That means the world's top eight ranked women's players and top four ranked quad players at the entry cut-off will be in action at Melbourne Park.

Australian interest in the event will be driven by Sydneysiders Ben Weekes and Adam Kellerman, who will go head-to-head in a one-match showdown to secure the single men's wild card up for grabs, while Dylan Alcott qualifies directly for the quad event this year after being awarded a wild card for the 2014 Australian Open.

Kunieda heads into Australian Open 2015 after yet another stellar year on the ITF Wheelchair circuit; he produced a magnificent 51-1 win-loss record during a season highlighted by singles titles at the Australian, French and US Opens as well as the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters.

Kamiji, named the female ITF World Champion in 2014 alongside Kunieda, rose to world No. 1 for the first time in 2014 shortly before winning at Roland Garros; she later capped her season with victory at Flushing Meadows.

After also winning all four Grand Slam women's doubles titles in 2014 with Brit Jordanne Whiley, 2014 Australian Open singles runner-up Kamiji will bid to complete a career Grand Slam of singles titles in Melbourne next month

Alcott will carry hometown hopes in the quad event, with the Victorian entering the tournament after an impressive debut season in the quad division in 2014, during which he peaked at world No. 2 and went 34-11, as well as winning four titles. Alcott, Sithole and defending champion Wagner will again be joined in this year's field by Britain's Andy Lapthorne who partnered Wagner to win the Australian Open quad doubles in 2014.

(Figures in brackets denote world ranking at cut-off date).

Men

Shingo Kunieda (JPN) (1)

Stephane Houdet (FRA) (2)

Gordon Reid (GBR) (3)

Gustavo Fernandez (ARG) (4)

Nicolas Peifer (FRA) (5)

Maikel Scheffers (NED) (6)

Joachim Gerard (BEL) (7)

Wild Card TBC (AUS)

Women

Yui Kamiji (JPN) (1)

Aniek van Koot (NED) (2)

Jiske Griffioen (NED) (3)

Sabine Ellerbrock (GER) (4)

Jordanne Whiley (GBR) (5)

Marjolein Buis (NED) (6)

Sharon Walraven (NED) (7)

Katharina Kruger (GER) (8) (WC)

Quads

David Wagner (USA) (1)

Dylan Alcott (AUS) (2)

Andy Lapthorne (GBR) (3)

Lucas Sithole (RSA) (4) (WC)