Trio of British wheelchair tennis players set for Wimbledon

“I’ve been in two Wimbledon finals so far and, of course, everyone dreams of a victory at their home Grand Slam"

Gordon Reid will also contest the men’s doubles after he and his Dutch partner Tom Egberink were awarded a wild card.

Whiley and Japan’s Yui Kamiji were runners-up at Wimbledon in 2013 to Dutch top seeds Jiske Griffioen and Aniek van Koot, the same pairing that beat the partnership of Shuker and Whiley in the 2012 final.

However, Whiley and Kamiji have enjoyed a tremendous run of success since last July, ending 2013 by winning the Doubles Masters before claiming their first Grand Slam titles in Melbourne and Paris this year. They defeated Griffioen and van Koot in last Friday’s (13 June) final at Roland Garros, with Whiley subsequently earning a career best women’s doubles world ranking of No. 2 this week behind Kamiji, who has moved to the top of the women’s singles and doubles rankings.

“To have won my first two Grand Slam titles with Yui this year is incredible and we’re very excited to be the top two doubles players in the world right now, so we can’t wait to play at Wimbledon,” said Whiley. “I’ve been in two Wimbledon finals so far and, of course, everyone dreams of a victory at their home Grand Slam, so we’ll give it our best shot and hopefully we can continue this winning partnership.”

Shuker, formerly a two-time Wimbledon finalist with Australia’s Daniela di Toro as well as runner-up with Whiley in 2012, partners Germany’s Sabine Ellerbrock this time after the duo played their first two tournaments together earlier this season, winning one and finishing as runners-up in the other.

Reid and Egberink line up in the four-strong field for the men’s doubles alongside Stephane Houdet of France and Shingo Kunieda of Japan, the defending Wimbledon champions and this year’s Australian Open champions, as well as Dutch duo Maikel Scheffers and Ronald Vink, the 2011 champions.

Reid and Egberink will play together for the first time since last June, when they were semi-finalists at the Open de France Super Series before bowing out to Houdet and Kunieda. While 2013 Roland Garros doubles finalist Reid will be bidding to reach his first Wimbledon final, Egberink was part of the winning partnership in 2012.

A total of £50,000 in prize money is on offer for the wheelchair tennis doubles competition and the event will be played from Friday 4 July to Sunday 6 July.