Reid, Whiley look for home support at NEC Masters

"If I play well, and as well as I have been doing recently, then I know I’ve got the chance to win the Masters and that’s my aim.”

Two-time Grand Slam doubles champion Gordon Reid is hoping home support will help him achieve another landmark success at the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters, which will be held 2-6 December at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, UK.

The world No. 5 player is one of eight who will contest the men’s singles at the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) year-end wheelchair tennis singles championship for the second successive year. This year’s field boasts the exact same players who returned to the venue that held the London 2012 Paralympic tennis event when London hosted the Masters for the first time in 2014.

“It was hard to know what to expect last year but I really enjoyed the event and it was brilliantly organised,” said Reid, who finished third last year. “If I play well, and as well as I have been doing recently, then I know I’ve got the chance to win the Masters and that’s my aim.”

Reid’s season has included leading Great Britain to a first ever World Team Cup men’s World Group title, the wheelchair tennis equivalent of the Davis Cup. He also claimed the first two Grand Slam titles of his career after partnering Japan’s Shingo Kunieda to victory in the men’s doubles at Roland Garros and partnering France’s Stephane Houdet to victory in the men’s doubles at the US Open.

On the women’s side, Great Britain’s Jordanne Whiley is coming off a US Open title and aiming to end her ground-breaking season in style at the 2015 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters.

The No. 4 women’s singles player is set to return to the scene of her London 2012 women’s doubles bronze medal-winning performance with Lucy Shuker, with both Brits among the elite women’s field of eight players.

Whiley is aiming to build on the first Grand Slam and Super Series singles titles of her career, both which have come this year in the wake of a thrilling semi-final appearance at the NEC Masters in 2014.

“I love playing in front of large crowds, especially my home crowd,” said Whiley, who won her first Super Series singles title at the British Open in Nottingham in July shortly after partnering Japan’s Yui Kamiji to win their second Wimbledon doubles title together.

Whiley came close to the finals in 2014 after earning three match points in her semi-final against Dutchwoman Aniek van Koot. Van Koot went on to win that contest and the subsequent final against her fellow Dutchwoman Jiske Griffioen in three sets.

“That was the most disappointing loss of my career and after that I never wanted to feel that way again,” said Whiley, who has beaten van Koot en route to winning her British Open and US Open titles.

World No. 2 Van Koot, won her first Masters title, and the London 2012 silver medallist is also excited to return to the venue of two of her most memorable career successes.

“I can’t wait to try and defend my 2015 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters,” Van Koot said. “Last year was a fantastic event for me and I’m looking forward to heading back to London.”

More information on the 2015 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters, along with ticket sales, can be found at the event website.