The Portuguese national team begins this Monday, May 2, participation in the Wheelchair Tennis Team World Championship, in Vilamoura, with a game against Spain.
Portugal was drawn in Group D of the BNP Paribas World Team Cup — World Championship of Wheelchair Tennis Teams, which takes place for the first time in Portugal, from today until May 8, at Vilamoura Tennis & Padel Academy.
The competition is organized by the Portuguese Tennis Federation and Premier Sports.
As the organizing country, Portugal received a wild card to compete in the finals. With Joaquim Nunes as captain, the country will be represented in the men's tournament by Fábio Reis, Carlos Leitão, João Couceiro and João Melo.
Along with Portugal, in Group D, are Spain — this Monday's opponent, from 12:30 pm —, Malaysia and Poland. The four teams that win the group stage qualify for the semi-finals (Group 1 vs. Group 4, Group 2 vs. Group 3).
The runners-up, third and fourth in each group face off, in the same logic, in the discussion for positions 5-8, 9-12 and 13-16, respectively.
Consisting of four categories — male, female, quad and juniors — the World Championship of Wheelchair Tennis Teams brings together in Portugal a total of 44 teams from 22 countries.
In all, there will be around 150 players, including many of the greatest champions in the history of wheelchair tennis, with emphasis on world ranking leaders, world champions, Grand Slam and the Paralympic Games — with the exception that the constitutions of the teams will only be made official by means of the sign-in face-to-face meeting to be carried out by each group.
Shingo Kunieda is the most accredited tennis player among those enrolled in this edition of the Wheelchair Tennis Team World Championship. With 47 titles from Grand Slam between singles and doubles, four gold medals in Paralympic Games and nine world champion titles, the Japanese has a unique curriculum, which leads him to be considered the best wheelchair tennis player in history. But taking Japan to the title will not be an easy task, given the quality of the rest of the squad that makes up this edition of the competition.
Also in the men's team, the Netherlands stand out, coming to Portugal with a former leader of the ranking and world champion, Maikel Scheffers (seven trophies in "Majors" and a world title), and Great Britain, also represented by a player who has already occupied the first place in the hierarchy: Alfie Hewett, holder of 19 titles in the grand slam.
Do not despise the selections of Argentina and Spain: the Argentines have in Gustavo Fernández (five titles in the Grand Slam in singles, two in doubles and the titles of world champion in 2017 and 2019) its greatest figure, while the Spanish team, finalist in 2021, has two excellent players among the wheelchair tennis elite, Martin De La Puente and Daniel Caverzaschi.
As for the women's competition, the main figures are three Dutch players and one Japanese: Diede de Groot (26 Grand Slams, two gold medals in the Paralympic Games and three-time world champion), Aniek van Koot (23 "Majors", two Paralympic medals and world champion once) and Jiske Griffioen (18 champion trophies in Grand Slams, two Paralympic medals and world champion twice) give favor to the Netherlands, although Japan counts with the precious presence of Yui Kamiji (25 “Majors” and two world champion titles).
Teams
Male Board (Open): South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, South Korea, Spain, United States of America, France, Great Britain, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Sri Lanka
Female board (Open): Germany, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, United States of America, France, Great Britain, Japan, Netherlands, Switzerland, Thailand
Quad frame (mixed): South Africa, Brazil, United States of America, Great Britain, Israel, Japan, Netherlands, Turkey
Junior team (mixed): Argentina, Australia, Brazil, United States of America, France, Great Britain, Japan, Netherlands
Format
All matches consist of two singles matches and one doubles match.
Men's table: group stage with four groups of four teams, from which the winners qualify for the semi-finals (Group 1 vs. Group 4, Group 2 vs. Group 3). The second, third and fourth ranked face each other, in the same logic, in the discussion for positions 5-8, 9-12 and 13-16, respectively.
Women's table: similar to the men's tournament, but with four groups of three teams and, therefore, 12 positions at stake.
Quads table: group stage with two groups of four teams, from which the best classified go to the semi-finals (1st place Group 1 vs. 2nd place Group 2, 2nd place Group 1 vs. 1. th place Group 2). The winners meet in the final, while the losers play the match for the allocation of third and fourth places. The third and fourth places in the group stage face off against each other in the fight for positions 5-8, with the winners fighting for places 5-6 and the losers fighting for positions 7-8.
Junior team: similar to the quad category, with the difference being in the clearance of positions 5-8: here, the third classified fight directly for the fifth place and the fourth classified for the seventh position.
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