The UNIQLO Interview: NEC's 30 years of wheelchair tennis sponsorship
NEC, wheelchair tennis’ longest-standing sponsor, celebrates 30 years of partnership with the ITF in 2021.
It is a partnership that is one of the most enduring in all of international sport and which has been pivotal to the growth of wheelchair tennis - not only numerically, in terms of the size of the Tour, the number of players and the number of countries involved, but also in terms of the levels of professionalism achieved as a result of NEC’s investment, especially in the early years.
NEC’s partnership with tennis goes back much further than just its relationship with wheelchair tennis and it was as a former sponsor of the Davis Cup and what was then the Federation Cup (now the Billie Jean King Cup) that NEC’s interest in wheelchair tennis first began in 1991.
View the photo gallery at the bottom of the page, which reflects on the 30 years of NEC's sponsorship.
A wheelchair tennis exhibition on the final day of the 1991 Federation Cup by NEC in Nottingham, Great Britain, sparked talks between the then-International Wheelchair Tennis Federation and Mr. Koichi Yamashita, who was the Senior Manager of NEC’s Social Contributions Programmes Department.
Among the players to take part in that wheelchair tennis exhibition in Nottingham, Ellen de Lange also celebrates 30 years of working for the ITF in 2021, having been appointed as the first Executive Secretary of the International Wheelchair Tennis Federation in 1991, working from the ITF offices in London.
When NEC came on board as the major sponsor of wheelchair tennis shortly before the end of 1991, de Lange said: “The involvement of NEC in wheelchair tennis is wonderful news. We have made great strides in the last couple of years but this support from NEC will enable us to provide opportunities for many more players to enjoy competitive and recreational sport."
In reality, wheelchair tennis has reached far greater heights in the last three decades than could perhaps have ever been imagined in 1991, thanks to the support of NEC.
Developments in the first few years were particularly crucial to the sport becoming the phenomenon we know today, as wheelchair tennis continues to be one of the fastest-growing wheelchair sports in the world.
NEC’s investment not only allowed for the formalisation of the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour, but also for the development of the first official wheelchair tennis rankings. That, in turn, allowed for Randy Snow (USA) and Chantal Vandierendonck (NED) to be recognised as the first ITF Wheelchair World Champions for 1991.
Just three years later, wheelchair tennis gained its own year-end championship, when the first NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters was held in 1994, with Snow and Monique Kalkman (NED) crowned the inaugural champions.
For more photos from the 30 years of NEC's sponsorship of wheelchair tennis, view our photo gallery below.
NEC invested significantly in the sport’s early development, starting with a major series of clinics in Thailand, Hong Kong and the Philippines in 1992, with China, Sri Lanka and Korea following a year later.
The NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour began with just 11 tournaments at the start of 1992. That number exceeded 100 tournaments for the first time in 1996 and by 2012 the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour featured over 160 tournaments in more than 40 countries for the first time, offering $1.5 million in prizemoney. Today, the Tour continues to evolve and flourish and offers $3.25 million in prize money.
While NEC’s title sponsorship of the Tour ended in 2013 and UNIQLO became the new title sponsor in 2014, NEC continued as an Official Partner of the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour in selected markets.
Meanwhile, the NEC Wheelchair Singles Masters continues to go from strength to strength. The sport’s year-end showcase celebrated its 20th edition in 2013 when it was staged outside of Europe for the first time, in Mission Viejo, Southern California, the sport’s spiritual home. The 2021 event will be the 28th, with NEC having remained a title sponsor since 1994.
Earlier this year the ITF announced that NEC will continue as title sponsor of the NEC Wheelchair Singles Masters and as an international sponsor of several UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour events for a further three years, from 2021 to 2023.
David Haggerty, ITF President, said: “There is no doubt that wheelchair tennis would not be where it is today without the involvement of NEC whose commitment to the development of the sport has always gone well beyond their financial contribution. On behalf of the ITF and wheelchair tennis, I would like to express our ongoing gratitude and we look forward to continuing this longstanding and successful partnership.”
Makoto Enomoto, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, NEC Corporation, said: “We are proud and privileged to have sponsored wheelchair tennis as we share the same passion for excellence by overcoming challenges and bringing people around the globe closer together. NEC has been a part of the wheelchair tennis community for 30 years since the sport's early development, and we look forward to continuing our involvement well into the future.”