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Date: 22 Apr 2009 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 22 Apr 2009 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 22 Apr 2009 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 22 Apr 2009 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
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Date: 10 Nov 2005 |
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| 22 Apr 2009 | |
| Invacare World Team Cup: 25 years and counting... |
In 2009, the Invacare World Team Cup celebrates its 25th Anniversary.
In the first of a series of features leading up to this year's Invacare World Team Cup in Nottingham, we trace the history of the ITF's flagship wheelchair tennis team event, from its humble beginnings as a small, fun tournament in Irvine, USA....
The World Team Cup was created in 1985 due to the growth of foreign participation in the US Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships. It began more as a fun event that was used as a warm-up tournament the weekend before the US Open.
Just six men's teams competed in the inaugural event and after a weekend of hard competitive tennis, the USA proved too strong for France in the final.
Great Britain joined the Men's teams in 1986 and an official Women's competition also took place for the first time, contested by the Netherlands and the USA. While the USA once again beat France in the Men's final, the Netherlands got the better of the USA to begin a reign as Women's champions that was to last for many years.
- "Back in 1985 there were not that many countries participating or they didn't have enough players to form a team. I remember playing as a team with Martine Picard, a French girl. I think we played for Holland, or was it France? Nowadays, that would be impossible. It's amazing how much wheelchair tennis and the World Team Cup have grown on both countries and players. Absolutely great!"
- Chantal Vandierendonck (NED)
By 1991, the US Open and the World Team Cup had grown beyond anyone's expectations and having the events back to back was too much.
Following discussions at the 1991 IWTF Annual General Meeting, Belgium had said that they would love to hold the event and so, in 1992, the World Team Cup moved outside the USA for the first time to be staged in Brussels. By then the IWTF office had been established in London for one year and was able to offer support and assistance to new host nations, taking the huge organisational responsibility away from the National Foundation for Wheelchair Tennis (NFWT). Since then, 13 different countries have staged the event.
All the while the World Team Cup had been staged in the USA, the host nation had remained undefeated in the Men's competition as a host of wheelchair tennis legends, including Brad Parks, Randy Snow and the ever growing talent of Steve Welch, had defeated either France or Australia in seven straight finals. But the event's first venture outside of the USA in 1992 was also marked with a new name on the Men's trophy as the French team of Laurent Giammartini and Abde Naili won the first of two consecutive World Team Cups, beating the seven-time champions in the final.
Due to the unprecedented growth of wheelchair tennis around the world, entries leapt from 15 in 1992 to 23 in 1993 and it became apparent that playing matches in a pool system was no longer practical. It was decided that the format should be changed to a knockout principle, with a play-off system to determine the ranking of all participating teams. Also new for 1993 was the first ever Wheelchair Tennis Coaches Conference. USA team coaches Bal and Marsha Moore, Randy Snow, Marc Kalkman, Stéphane Jacquemet and Pierre Fusade all assisted at this inaugural event, which proved to be a great success.
- "The World Team Cup is truly one of the finest sporting events of our time. Its growth and popularity in such a young sport is amazing."
- Marsha Moore, Coach USA Women's team
The 1994 World Team Cup, staged in Nottingham, England, made history, both on and off the court. For the first time the event gained new trophies from the ITF. Presented by Brian Tobin, President of the ITF at the time, the cups had previously been used as Davis Cup Zonal Trophies. The original World Team Cup trophies that were used until 1994 are now used for Quad and Junior events, ensuring the history of the World Team Cup lives on.
In the heat of competition, Australia went on to beat defending champions France in the final, securing their first World Team Cup title and prompting David Hall to jump into the moat at the Gateway Hotel. In the women's event, history was made as the Netherlands competed for the first time without their number one or number two ranked players and were defeated early in the competition, leaving the USA to take the women's trophy for the first time. Great Britain's Kimberly Dell also made history, as she became the youngest World Team Cup competitor, at the age of 13, to play in the senior events.
The 1995 World Team Cup in Roermond, the Netherlands, saw the initial involvement of Invacare Corporation. For the first time ever in World Team Cup history, spectators had to be turned away as the crowd reached capacity of 1,500 ahead of the men's final, in which the USA defeated France to win their 8th title and their first outside American soil. Back to full strength, the Netherlands took the women's title for the ninth time in ten years.
Following their involvement in the 1995 event, the World Team Cup obtained the title sponsor of Invacare Corporation in 1996. The event would now be known as the Action World Team Cup, Action being the brand name of Invacare's ultra light sports wheelchairs. In the men's event, Australia delighted their home crowd in Melbourne as they beat France in a repeat of the 1994 final, while the Netherlands once again beat the USA in the women's final. The Action World Team Cup returned to Nottingham, Great Britain in 1997 - the only time it has returned to the same venue since leaving the United States.
By 1998, only three nations - USA, France and Australia - had ever competed in the final of the men's event. But that was all to change as Germany defeated the Netherlands in Barcelona, Spain. Another first for 1998 was the inclusion of a division for quadriplegic (quad) players with the USA defeating Great Britain in the final after a four-way round-robin tournament.
Coming soon: 1999 - 2009...
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