Ilkeston wheelchair tennis star all set for World Team Cup in Portugal

The squad will represent Great Britain across all four events contested at the International Tennis Federation’s flagship wheelchair tennis event, which is the wheelchair equivalent of the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup.

Great Britain has a long history of success in the World Team Cup, winning the men’s competition for the first time in 2015 before adding the title again in 2019, which brought the latest in a sequence of six successive medals – two gold, two silver and two bronze.

The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the cancellation of the 2020 World Team Cup, while a combination of injury and illness resulted in Great Britain being forced to withdraw from the men’s competition in 2021.

Sixteen-year-old Johns, who made his World Team Cup debut in last year’s silver medal-winning junior team, will be able to draw on that experience this year having been picked for the same squad once again, with fellow Derbyshire player Abbie Breakwell from Long Eaton also selected for the women’s team.

Speaking ahead of the event, the LTA’s Performance Support Lead and World Team Cup team lead Cain Berry, said:

“We’re pleased to announce a strong squad for this year’s World Team Cup and are again delighted to name an exciting mixture of youth and experience from the pool of talented athletes on our performance pathway.

As a nation we have a strong track record in the World Team Cup and look forward to building on that, whilst also utilising this year's event to accelerate player development for the future.”

Great Britain enjoyed their most successful World Team Cup to date in 2019, when all four teams earned top four placings and Great Britain’s men’s team won gold, the women’s team won bronze and the junior team won silver.

To find out more about the LTA’s work with disability tennis, head to www.lta.org.uk/play or email [email protected].