Invacare World Team Cup Returns to Great Britain

The prestigious Invacare World Team Cup for Wheelchair Tennis is an International Tennis Federation (ITF) flagship and will take place in Nottingham, England, from 27 July to 2 August 2009.

It will be the third time that the country has hosted this annual Wheelchair Tennis team event and the excitement has already begun to build.

The announcement was made at a press conference at the City of Nottingham Tennis Centre, the actual venue where more than 200 players from over 30 nations will compete in 2009. The City of Nottingham Tennis Centre also hosted the event in 1994 and 1997.

Attending the announcement were representatives from the title sponsor Invacare, the ITF, the Nottingham City Council, the UK Sport Lottery funded World Class Events Programme and The Tennis Foundation. The Tennis Foundation, which is Britain’s foremost tennis charity, is now looking to attract more sponsors to help support its organization of the 2009 Invacare World Team Cup.

Aside from the organizers, athletes were also present at the big announcement. Former top player from Britain, Jayant Mistry, welcomed the return to Nottingham, after having competed in an impressive 20 previous Invacare World Team Cups. Mistry retired last year and competed in both Nottingham-hosted Invacare Cups before.

“The atmosphere of a World Team Cup is unique. I will always remember playing in front of the Nottingham crowd in 1997 and they really helped lift me. With the help of home support, I came back scoring to win in three sets, and we went on to the semi-finals,” Mistry said.

The Managing Director of Invacare Europe, Franz Krammer, said the company is proud to be a team member of this growing Wheelchair Tennis event, and that next year the competition is sure to bring top level tennis to the courts.