OREANDA-NEWS. November 25, 2015. NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) is sponsoring the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters, the International Tennis Federation's (ITF) year-end singles championship, where 20 of the world's top ranked wheelchair tennis players will compete from 2-6 December 2015 at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London.

The prestigious tournament, to be hosted by the Tennis Foundation in London from 2015-2017, sees players compete in three divisions - men, women and quads - over a period of five days, with the men's, women's and singles finals all on Sunday, 6 December.

The ITF has invited eight men, eight women and four quad players based on the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Ranking of 5 October, after the completion of the Open de la Baie de Somme, the penultimate ITF 1 Series event of the season. The Wheelchair Tennis Masters was originally established in 1994 and has been sponsored by NEC since its inception.

Alongside the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters, each day of the tournament will also feature opportunities for schools and community groups to take part in a variety of tennis activities and to meet some of the players taking part in the tournament, as well watching them in action.

Forty pupils from the Japanese School in London will be guests of NEC on Wednesday, 2 December. They will have the opportunity to support the players on the first of three days of round-robin competition, meet some of the stars contesting the 2015 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters and have fun in the Activity Zone.

Mark Bullock, ITF Wheelchair Tennis Manager, said, "As the ITF's year-end singles championship, the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters is arguably the most competitive tournament of the year and requires our top ranked players to come through five days of intense competition against their biggest rivals in order to be crowned champion.  We look forward to another exciting tournament as the best in wheelchair tennis return to the venue that hosted the London 2012 Paralympic Tennis Event."

Wheelchair tennis traces its beginnings to California, USA, in 1976 and has since spread across the globe. In 1992, the ITF created a tour for players, the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour, and ran 21 tournaments in 13 countries. In 1994, the ITF launched the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters as the most prestigious event on the Tour. Today, NEC remains an Official Partner of the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour, which included more than 140 tournaments in over 40 countries this year, as well as title sponsor of the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters.

The daily schedule for the 2015 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters is as follows:

Wednesday 2nd to Friday 4th December:
11am Play starts for round-robin matches, with one match each day not before 3.30pm.

Saturday 5th December:
11am Play starts
       Men's and Women's Semi-Finals
       Men's and Women's 5th/6th and 7th/8th place play-offs

Sunday 6th December:
9.30am Play starts (subject to change)
       Men's and Women's 3rd/4th play-offs
From 1pm
       Men's, Women's and Quad Finals