Shingo Kunieda and Gordon Reid inspire at UNIQLO Next Gen clinic

Ahead of making their latest bids for Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon, Paralympic gold medallists Shingo Kunieda and Gordon Reid were on hand to inspire a new generation of young wheelchair tennis players over the weekend, at the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Next Gen Development Programme clinic at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London.

Kunieda and Reid, who have four Paralympic men’s singles gold medals and a total of 47 Grand Slam titles between them, joined 21 young British players on court at the venue for the London 2012 Paralympic Tennis Event to pass on advice and tips during sessions organised by coaches from the LTA.

With the coaching sessions over, UNIQLO Ambassadors Kunieda and Reid then fielded a considerable number of questions from the young players, providing an insight into a range of subjects, including their training schedules, their career highlights and what it’s like to travel the world with day chairs and tennis chairs.

There was also ample time for the players to get autographs and have their photos taken with Kunieda and Reid, with four of the young players who took part in the clinic to be selected in the near future for the opportunity to attend the year-end NEC Wheelchair Singles Masters and ITF Wheelchair Doubles Masters in Oss, Netherlands, in early November.