Jeremiasz, Verfuerth, Taylor receive US Open wild cards
The three wheelchair tennis players landed spots in the final Grand Slam competition of the year. 18 Aug 2015France’s Michael Jeremiasz, and the USA’s Kaitlyn Verfuerth and Nick Taylor received wild cards to join the top ranked men and women in the field of 20 for the 2015 US Open Wheelchair Tennis Competition.
The final Grand Slam on the 2015 UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour takes place on 10-13 September in New York, USA. The total purse for the event will be USD 180,000.
The top seven ranked players of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Wheelchair Tennis Rankings as of 27 July 2015, plus one wildcard, make up the eight players for the men's and women's events. The top three ranked players as of 27 July, plus one wild card, make up the four players for the quad event.
Jeremiasz received the wild card for the men's event for the second successive year. Verfuerth is set to play in New York for the third time after successive appearances in 2005 and 2006. Taylor joins fellow American and world No. 1 David Wagner in the quad field. The duo will look to retain their unbeaten record in the quad doubles in New York, having won the event on each of the previous six occasions that it has been contested.
The US Open field also includes world No. 1 Shingo Kunieda, who will go for his sixth US Open singles men's title since 2007. French world No. 2 Stephane Houdet will bid to regain the men's singles title he won after beating Kunieda in the 2013 final.
Kunieda was one half of a Japanese double in 2014 after Yui Kamiji won her first US Open women's singles title, en route to ending 2014 as ITF World Champion for the first time.
But Kamiji will be challenged by Dutchwoman Jiske Griffioen, who has won the first two Grand Slam women's singles titles of the year (Australian Open and Roland Garros). The feat brought Griffioen to world No.1 for the first time after her victory on the clay.
Wagner will be looking to win his third US Open quad singles title after earning back-to-back crowns in 2010 and 2011. World No. 2 Dylan Alcott of Australia will aim to add to his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January, while Great Britain’s world No. 3 Andy Lapthorne returns to the venue where he won his first Grand Slam singles title in 2014.
(Figures in brackets denote world ranking at cut-off date of 27 July 2015)
Men
Shingo Kunieda (JPN) (1)
Stephane Houdet (FRA)
Joachim Gerard (BEL) (3)
Nicolas Peifer (FRA) (4)
Gordon Reid (GBR) (5)
Gustavo Fernandez (ARG) (6)
Maikel Scheffers (NED) (7)
Michael Jeremiasz (FRA) (12) (WC)
Women
Jiske Griffioen (NED) (1)
Yui Kamiji (JPN) (2)
Aniek van Koot (NED) (3)
Sabne Ellerbrock (NED) (4)
Jordanne Whiley (GBR) (5)
Marjolein Buis (NED) (6)
Lucy Shuker (GBR) (7)
Kairlyn Verfuerth (USA) (18) (WC)
Quads
David Wagner (USA) (1)
Dylan Alcott (AUS) (2)
Andy Lapthorne (GBR) (3)
Nick Taylor (USA) (18) (WC)