Portugal becomes the first host nation since 1991 to stage back-to back editions of the BNP Paribas World Team Cup when Vilamoura Tennis and Padel Academy hosts the 2023 renewal of the ITF’s flagship wheelchair tennis team event on 1-7 May.

Twelve months ago history was made in Vilamoura as Japan won a first World Team Cup women’s title, while Netherlands left Portugal having retained the men’s and quad titles and Australia claimed the junior title for the second time in three years.

From Monday’s first day of round-robin competition through to the completion of the last of four finals on the weekend of 6-7 May, this year’s renewal is guaranteed to produce as much sporting drama as any of the previous 37 editions of the World Team Cup.

Netherlands men eye record-equalling victory

For the last two years Netherlands and Spain have contested the men’s final, while Argentina won the bronze medal in 2021 and Japan were bronze medallists last year.

A third successive victory for Netherlands is a possibility, with Tom Egberink, Ruben Spaargaren and Maikel Scheffers all nominated to represent their country again, but Spain will be without Daniel Caverzaschi this year as the Spanish No. 2 continues to recover from injury, making the task to reach a third successive final that bid harder.

Both Netherlands and France have eight World Team Cup men’s titles to date, one title behind USA, whose record of nine is largely due to seven titles back-to-back between 1985 and 1991. Netherlands arguably have the stronger chance of a record-equalling ninth title this year.

Without being able to field a full strength team last year, France missed out on earning direct entry for this year’s World Team Cup. However, having won the European Qualification in March, France can now draw on the experience of former world No. 1 Stephane Houdet in their bid to get back among the medals.

Argentina will be without world No. 3 Gustavo Fernandez this time as Fernandez contends with injury. And while Japan will not be able to draw on the experience of Shingo Kunieda, who announced his retirement in January, 16-year-old world No. 2 Tokito Oda heads a team that is more than capable of challenging for the men’s title, especially on the back of Oda and Takashi Sanada contesting an all-Japanese final last weekend at the Japan Open, where Oda also won the men’s doubles with Takuya Miki.

Unlike a year ago, Great Britain also has a full strength team, headed by world No. 1 Alfie Hewett and the British are also likely to be live contenders for a third World Team Cup men’s title since 2015.

Sixteen men’s teams are set to begin this year’s World Team Cup in four round-robin pools of four nations, with the winners of each pool going forward to the semi-finals. It remains to be seen who will contest the final.

Netherlands and Japan head women’s title challengers

For the last two years Netherlands, Japan and USA have finished as the three medallists in the women’s event, but last year Japan made history when upsetting 32-time champions Netherlands to lift the World Team Cup women’s title for the first time.

The strength in depth of Netherlands women’s teams is the stuff of legend, but once again this year Japan can match that strength in depth with both Netherlands and Japan nominating two players ranked inside the world’s five within their respective teams.

The same quartet of Japanese players that were victorious in 2022, led by world No. 2 Yui Kamiji and world No. 5 Momoko Ohtani, make up Japan’s team once again this year, while Netherlands’ team includes world No.1  Diede de Groot and world No.3 Jiske Griffioen. However, Netherlands will be without world No. 4 Aniek van Koot, as Van Koot recovers from hand surgery.

Anything other than a Netherlands-Japan women’s final would arguably be something of a surprise, but while there is every reason to expect USA to be challenging for the medals once again, the competition for places in the semi-finals is likely to fierce, with a number of live contenders.

The first task is for teams to emerge from their round-robin pools and following the late withdrawal of the women's teams from Colombia and Nigeria, this year's women's event will start with a slightly different format to previous years.

With just 10 women's teams now taking part, there will be three round robin groups - two groups (A, B) of three teams and one group (C) of four teams. The winners of each of the three groups plus the second placed team in group C will advance to the semi-finals.

The six remaining teams will contest two further play-off round-.robin groups of 3 teams to determine positions 5-7 and 8-10.

Can anyone stop Dutchmen Schroder and Vink in quad event?

Sam Schroder and Niels Vink occupy the top of the quad singles rankings and will aim to secure a third successive BNP Paribas World Team Cup quad title for Netherlands this year.

Schroder and Vink won all four Grand Slam singles titles between them in 2022 as well as three of the four quad doubles titles. They began 2023 in much the same manner, Schroder beating Vink in the Australian Open quad singles final, while they paired up to beat Donald Ramphadi and Ymanitu Silva in the quad doubles final.

Ramphadi was key to South Africa’s quad team earning a personal best World Team Cup performance last year in Vilamoura, winning the silver medal for the first time, while Silva led the Brazilian team that won bronze.

Both players lead their nations’ medal bids once more, with Ramphadi and former US Open quad champion Lucas Sithole again nominated for South Africa, while former World Team Cup junior medallist Joao Lucas Takaki joins Silva and Leandro Pena in the Brazilian team.   

USA remain the most successful nation in the history of the World Team Cup quad event with nine titles and David Wagner has been central to the success of the American quad team over the years. While Wagner will not be joined by fellow World Team Cup multi-medallist Bryan Barten this year, he arrives in Vilamoura as the only player other than Vink to have beaten Schroder so far in 2023. In his first season in international competition, newcomer Andrew Bogdanov completes a three-strong American team.

Japan won the quad title for the first time in 2019, when Israel won the silver medal and both teams could well be challenging for the medals once again.

You have to go back to 2012 for the last of four World Team Cup quad titles for Israel, during what was a special year for Israel's quad players, with Noam Gershony also winning the London 2012 Paralympic quad singles gold medal.

Since then Gershony has not played reguarly on the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour, but maintains his commitment to his country's World Team Cup campaigns. While former world No. 1 Shraga Weinberg, also a stalwart of Israel's World Team Cup quad teams, is a notable absentee this year, newcomer Guy Sasson strengthens Israel's latest title bid. 

With the eight quad teams beginning their challenges in two round-robin pools of four nations, expect plenty of excitement from the outset. The top two teams in each pool will go forward to the semi-finals. 

Future stars contest World Team Cup junior title

Australia, Great Britain and Netherlands, the three teams that won medals in the junior World Team Cup World Group in 2022 are now without personnel who helped to win those medals last year, due to some players having now graduated into senior competition and some being too old for junior competition.

Several current junior players who have graduated from the World Team Cup junior event – such as Japan’s Tokito Oda, Britain’s Ben Bartram, Dutchwoman Lizzy de Greef and USA’s reigning Cruyff Foundation Junior Masters girls champion Maylee Phelps - are selected to represent their countries in the senior men’s and women’s competitions.

But there is still a wealth of talent among the eight teams who will vie for the junior title in Vilamoura, including Great Britain's Joshua Johns, Australia’s Benjamin Wenzel, Netherlands’ Ivar van Rijt and Argentina’s Gonzalo Enrique Lazarte, who are all inside the top 10 in the Cruyff Foundation Junior Wheelchair Tennis rankings for boys. 

Similarly, Gryp, Brazil’s Vitoria Miranda and Ksenia Chasteau of France are all among the top four in the junior rankings for girls and Miranda arrives in Portugal as a reigning Junior Masters champion in girls doubles. Meanwhile, Chasteau has won the girls’ singles at both of the ITF Junior Grade A tournaments that have been held so far this year.

With mixed teams of male and female players in the eight junior teams, it makes for an intriguing set of match-ups from the very start of three days of round-robin competition in the junior event, with the top two nations in each of two round-robin groups going forward to the semi-finals.

Follow the 2023 BNP Paribas World Team Cup

Keep up-to-date on all the news from the 2023 BNP Paribas World Team Cup here on the ITF website and ITF social media channels, while daily live streams from centre court will be available on the ITF YouTube channel.

All centre court live streams will be also broadcast by Tennis Channel on the following platforms in the following countries: 

Tennis Channel Plus in USA

Tennis Channel OTT in UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Greece, and Cyprus