Wheelchair Players Prepare for Wimbledon

Defending champions Robin Ammerlaan of Netherlands and Stefan Olsson of Sweden bid to defend their Wimbledon men’s wheelchair doubles title this week. They will be hoping to repeat the pattern of 2010 when they finished runners-up at Roland Garros before going on to claim the Wimbledon title.

Ammerlaan and Olsson are sure to face stiff opposition from reigning Doubles Masters champions Maikel Scheffers and Ronald Vink of Netherlands when they meet in Saturday’s semi-finals, while 2009 Wimbledon champions Stephane Houdet and Michael Jeremiasz of France will also be strong contenders.

On Saturday the French duo will meet Tom Egberink, who will make his Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon as he pairs up with Japan’s Shingo Kunieda, the current world No. 1 in singles and doubles.

The women’s wheelchair doubles gets underway with Friday’s semi-finals. Esther Vergeer and Sharon Walraven head the entries as they bid to retain their title, with Vergeer aiming to win her third successive Wimbledon doubles title.

The Dutch pair recently completed a career full-house of Grand Slam doubles titles after winning Roland Garros, and at the All England Club they face the wild card pairing of Marjolein Buis and Annick Sevenans in their first match.

The Dutch pairing of Jiske Griffioen and Aniek van Koot, the Australian Open and Roland Garros runners-up, are among

the other contenders and they will arrive at Wimbledon in good heart after winning Sunday’s doubles final in Paris. They will play Lucy Shuker and Jordanne Whiley, who are the first all-British pairing to contest the women’s wheelchair doubles at Wimbledon.