Mission Viejo to Host 2013 ITF Wheelchair Doubles Masters

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has announced that the 2013 ITF Wheelchair Doubles Masters will take place at the Marguerite Tennis Pavilion in Mission Viejo, Southern California.

The ITF Wheelchair Doubles Masters is the sport’s flagship wheelchair doubles event and features the world’s top eight men’s pairs, top six women’s pairs and top four quad pairs. This year will be the first time the event has taken place outside of Europe.

Brad Parks, the founder of wheelchair tennis and an ITF Wheelchair Tennis Ambassador, has been named Honorary Chair of the 2013 ITF Wheelchair Doubles Masters. He is from from nearby San Clemente.

ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: “I am delighted that Mission Viejo will become the first city outside Europe to host the ITF Wheelchair Doubles Masters. It is fitting that this prestigious event should be staged in a part of the world so closely linked to the history of wheelchair tennis. As a strong supporter of doubles play, the ITF is pleased to see the continued success of this discipline within wheelchair tennis.”

Parks added: “Wheelchair tennis has its roots in Southern California. For 20 years, the US Open USTA Wheelchair Tennis Championships, a premier international wheelchair tennis tournament, was held in Irvine. Mission Viejo was the site of our first junior wheelchair tennis and sports camp in 1980, and the camp continues today. There has been a strong relationship between Mission Viejo and wheelchair tennis for so many years and to be able to bring back a major wheelchair tennis event here to Mission Viejo and Southern California is incredible.”