Olympic Park to host Tennis Masters

The NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters is to be staged at the Olympic Park from 2014-2016, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) have announced.

The competition, the season finale to the wheelchair tennis circuit featuring the top eight men, eight women and four quad players in the wheelchair world rankings, will be held at Eton Manor.

The site in Stratford, east London, is where the 2012 Paralympic tennis competition was held. It was the only purpose-built venue for the London 2012 Paralympics.

ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti said: "The NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters is one of the most prestigious events on the circuit and its staging in London will help us in our efforts to promote the sport.

"After the spectacular success of this year's Paralympic tennis event, British fans can look forward to the return of some outstanding athletes to London."

The venue is due to reopen in spring 2014 with four indoor and six outdoor courts as the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre at the newly-named Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

British Paralympic Association chief executive Tim Hollingsworth said: "The venues were packed in London 2012, which shows that the British public has an appetite for world-class international Paralympic sport.

"Therefore it is fantastic news that the first sporting event in the Olympic Park will be a Paralympic one, and I'm sure it will be a great success."

Geoff Newton, the Tennis Foundation's executive director, hoped the competition would give more people the chance to play and watch wheelchair tennis.

The tournament was first staged in 1994. It was held in Holland for 17 years, before moving to its current venue in Mechelen, Belgium in 2011.