ITF holds court with Uniqlo for wheelchair tennis

Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo has announced a three-year sponsorship agreement with the International Tennis Federation relating to the governing body’s wheelchair tennis properties.

Under the deal, Uniqlo becomes the title sponsor of the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Tour and Wheelchair Doubles Masters, along with serving as an international sponsor of the Wheelchair Tennis Masters.

The partnership is effective from June 24, which sees the Open de France wheelchair tennis tournament take place in Paris. It will continue across the ITF tour’s 160 tournaments in more than 40 countries.

This includes events at tennis’ four grand slam tournaments – the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open. The season-ending Wheelchair Doubles Masters will be held in Mission Viego, California on November 5-9 this year, featuring the world’s top eight men’s, top six women’s and top four quad pairs.

Uniqlo’s most high profile involvement in tennis to date is its on-going five-year endorsement deal with Serbia’s world No.2 Novak Djokovic, the top seed for this year’s Wimbledon Championships in the men’s singles draw. This agreement was penned in May 2012.