12 September 2022 | Tennis NSW

Five-time Paralympian Ben Weekes will headline the fields for the upcoming UNIQLO ITF Wheelchair Tennis Tour events set to take place in Sydney and Canberra over the coming weeks.

Currently the world number 25, Weekes continues to compete at the top echelons of the sport including at this year’s Australian Open.

He’ll be hoping to win another title in Sydney as he did earlier this year when he won the NSW Open.

Another Paralympian will join him in the field with Martyn Dunn, ranked 43, hoping to go one better having reached four ITF Futures finals this year.

The most recent of those was in Italy and with a long stint in Europe under his belt, Dunn will be hoping to boost his ranking to a career high with some good results while Canberra native Matthew Leggett will be hoping to reach the final in his hometown as he did in 2019 which was the last time the event was played there.

In the women’s events, former World Team Cup Junior champion and the current world number 43, Hayley Slocombe, will be the top seed while last year’s QLD Open winner, Naomi Oliver, will be hoping to win another title and join her in the world’s top 50.

Victoria’s Sally Schwartz is another player who could push into the top 50 having recently returned from injury and already climbed back to number 78 in the world.

The Sydney Classic is set to take place at City Community Tennis in Surry Hills from September 16-18 while the Canberra Open will be played from September 20-22 at the Canberra Tennis Centre in Lyneham.

Entry is free so please come down and watch our wheelchair tennis stars in action.