OREANDA-NEWS. November 17, 2011. NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) announced today that it has renewed its sponsorship agreement with ITF as title sponsor of the Wheelchair Tennis Tour and year-end Wheelchair Tennis Masters for a further two years, 2012-13.

NEC celebrated 20 years of partnership with the ITF in 2011. The NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour, organized by the ITF, in 1992 with 11 international tournaments, and has grown to its current total of over 170 tournaments in more than 40 countries offering over USD 1 million in prize money. The NEC Wheelchair Tour includes the wheelchair tennis events at all four Grand Slam tournaments.

The NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters was started in 1994 as the official year-end singles championship for the sport's leading players, and currently features the top eight men and women, and top four quad athletes. Last weekend Dutch world No. 1 Esther Vergeer won her 14th consecutive women's title at the event's new venue in Mechelen, Belgium. Stephen Houdet of France and Noam Gershony of Israel won their first Masters titles in the men's and quad categories respectively.

ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: "We are grateful for the continued support of the NEC Corporation, which has been a loyal and hardworking partner of the ITF's wheelchair tennis activities. Its commitment and enthusiasm has helped wheelchair tennis become one of the fastest growing Paralympic sports, and we look forward to the ongoing expansion of the Wheelchair Tennis Tour."

Hitoshi Suzuki, General Manager, Social Contributions and CSR Promotions, said, "As one of the leading global ICT companies, ICT for everyone is at the core of NEC's beliefs, but we believe that meaningful community involvement is needed in addition to business pursuits. Sport for everyone is as important as ICT for everyone in helping create a society with much more diversity. This is the key reason that NEC has been sponsoring wheelchair tennis for many years."