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International wheelchair tennis returns to Bolton for 10th year

The LTA is bringing international wheelchair tennis back to Bolton Arena for the 10th year.

Lucy Shuker holds one fist up in celebration.

Two back-to-back world ranking tournaments are set to take place between 16 and 25 February with a host of top Brits among the Grand Slam champions and Paris Paralympic hopefuls on show.

It’s the fourth year that the ITF 3 and ITF 2 tournaments on the International Tennis Federation’s UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour have been held in successive weeks in Bolton. More than 80 players from 28 counties will be contending for the men, women’s and quad singles and doubles titles across both tournaments. This year’s tournaments come a little over halfway through the qualification window for the Paris Paralympic Tennis Event.

Former and current US Open Junior Champions Ben Bartram and Dahnon Ward, the British No.3 and British No.4, lead the home entry for this year’s men’s singles at the  Bolton Indoor ITF 3 and ITF 2 events.

They are joined by several other top 25 players for the ITF 2 (21-25 February), including former world No.1 players Stephane Houdet of France and Maikel Scheffers of the Netherlands, as well as Tokyo Paralympic silver medallist Tom Egberink.  

Three of Britain’s top four players - Cornelia Oosthuizen, Abbie Breakwell and Ruby Bishop - are among the contenders for the ITF 3 women’s singles title.

Meanwhile, British No. 1 and three-time Paralympic medallist Lucy Shuker joins the title bid for the ITF 2 tournament alongside China’s world No.5 Zhenzhen Zhu, the USA’s reigning Parapan American Games gold medallist and world No.7 Dana Mathewson and Colombia’s Angelica Bernal.

Britain’s 17-time Grand Slam title-winner and three-time Bolton Indoor champion Andy Lapthorne will join fellow Brit Greg Slade among a strong entry for the quad singles and doubles titles at the Bolton Indoor ITF 2. Slade will lead the home challenge for the ITF 3 tournament, which also has Brazil’s world No.10 Ymanitu Silva among the entries.

Looking ahead to the feast of world class tennis coming up, Stuart Kay, Head of Sport at Bolton Arena, said:  

"We are thrilled to be celebrating the 10th year of Bolton Arena hosting the prestigious Bolton Indoor ITF3 and ITF2 wheelchair tournaments. Over the past decade, we have witnessed remarkable growth in both the level of competition and the number of talented players participating in these events. These tournaments have become a highlight of our event calendar for our local supporters and dedicated staff and we look forward to continuing to provide a platform for world class wheelchair tennis at Bolton Arena."