NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour Tournament Wraps Up in Spain

The Open 'Diputacion de Girona Memorial Santi Silvas' 2009 competition, part of the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour, sewed up its five days of action on the court this past weekend in Girona, Spain.

Familiar athlete Stefan Olsson from Sweden eventually defeated Maikel Scheffers from the Netherlands in the Men’s Singles, after Scheffers took the first set 6-2. But Olsson came back and showed a strong performance, winning the second and third set 6-1.

In the Women’s Singles, the main draw saw Aniek Van Koot from the Netherlands win against Lucy Shuker from Great Britain in three sets, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.

In the Men’s Doubles, duo Frederic Cattaneo (FRA) and Martin Legner (AUT) defeated Tom Egberink (NED) and Maikel Scheffers 7-6, 6-0. The Women’s Doubles saw Great Britain’s Shuker teaming up with her opponent from the Singles final, Netherlands’ Van Koot to defeat Spain’s Elena Jacinto and Lola Ochoa 6-1, 6-2.

The event took place from 10-14 June in Olot, Girona, bringing out Paralympians who were hoping to bring home top positions, while at the same time improving their own ranking within the NEC Tournament and globally.

Familiar Wheelchair Tennis player Stefan Olsson was given an immediate test on the first day, 10 June, when playing against world number one junior Gordon Reid. Reid had come from 5-2 down against the reigning NEC Singles Masters champion and world number five Olsson in the second set of their first round in the main draw of the Men’s Singles game but Olsson eventually prevailed and went on to the quarterfinals.

The NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour originated in 1992 with 11 international tournaments. Since its inception, the Tour has grown in size and popularity and has spread across all continents. The NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters is the year-end showcase event for the top 8 ranked men, women and top 4 ranked quad singles players.