Wendy Glasper Archives

Wendy Glasper, founder of the North East Visually Impaired Tennis Club (NEVITC) has been selected to attend this year’s ‘Women of the Year’ Awards. Bringing together more than 400 women from all walks of life, the annual awards celebrate extraordinary women who make a difference every day, with five individual accolades presented to those who have proved an inspiration to others through their courage, selflessness and dedication both in the UK and globally.

Born with congenital cataracts, Wendy first found out that blind and visually impaired people could play tennis in 2007. Not knowing anything about the sport prior to that, Wendy participated in her first tennis tournament in 2010. Shortly after, Wendy set up the North East Visually Impaired Tennis Club – one of the first tennis clubs set up for blind and partially sighted people in the country. With a goal to enable other visually impaired people to discover tennis, Wendy’s efforts have seen the club grow from strength to strength – with membership reaching over 30 in 2017.

Working closely with the Tennis Foundation* – Great Britain’s leading tennis charity with a vision to make tennis a sport which is inclusive and accessible to all – Wendy not only plays and competes in regional tournaments around the country, but also runs coaching sessions and helps to organise various events throughout the year. Travelling miles around the region, Wendy supports VI tennis sessions in Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Stockton helping players to develop their skills, set goals, participate and enjoy tennis.

Recently selected to compete in the inaugural Blind Tennis International Tournament in Spain in May, Wendy’s ‘Women of the Year’ invitation follows a string of award nominations and wins for the North East star. Named ‘Volunteer of the Year’ at the British Tennis Awards and previously named ‘Durham & Cleveland Volunteer of the Year’, Wendy’s love of bringing new people into the sport and seeing the joy they get from playing tennis has led to recognition on a national scale.

Hoping to emulate her success in previous award ceremonies, Wendy will be attending the ‘Women of the Year’ awards at The InterContinental, Park Lane, London on Monday 16^th October. To find out more about disability tennis, visit www.tennisfoundation.org.uk or get in touch via info@tennisfoundation.org.uk.

Highly successful second day in Spain for the B2 and B3 members of the GB Tennis team!

Photo above of Brenda Cassell and Chris Baily – original article by tennisfoundation

Chris Baily and Brenda Cassell added more history to the British challenge in Spain this week as they became the first Great Britain vision impaired tennis team players to reach finals on the international stage.

After making it through his round-robin pool without dropping a game Baily won his B3 men’s singles semi-final against Ireland’s Willem Roode 6-3.

In a fast-paced and energetic match both players produced some fantastic shots at key times in one of the best matches of the tournament so far. However, Bailey gained the crucial break of serve to set up a meeting with Grzegorz Korpinski of Poland in Thursday’s final.

Brenda Cassell also went into the knockout stages of the women’s B2 singles having not lost a game in her pool matches. She maintained her perfect record with a clinical 6-0 quarter-final victory over Mayumi Kita.

Cassell dropped her first games of the week in her semi-final, but still held on to beat Adrianna Sanchez of Mexico 6-3. After going two games down Cassell finished with a flourish. She won five games in a row and ended with a good serve to book her place in Thursday’s women’s B2 singles final against Chizuko Hara.

Wendy Glasper’s bid to also reach the women’s B2 singles final started well when she beat Marta Hiniesto 6-2 in her quarter-final. Glasper controlled the match with great accuracy and spin, but her winning sequence came to an end in her semi-final, which Hara won 6-0 to set up her meeting with Cassell.

Glasper’s competition came to an end with a tense bronze medal play-off against Sanchez. In a match that ebbed and flowed Glasper managed to come back from 4-1 down to force a tie-break.

However, Sanchez found the shots that mattered at the right time to win 7-6(3), with Glasper finishing her international debut as the fourth best B2 female in the world

After making it through his round-robin pool David Deas saw his men’s B2 singles challenge come to an end in his quarter-final. In an entertaining contest Deas lost out to South Korea’s Bye Ongin 6-3.

After becoming the first Great Britain player to win a match on the international stage earlier this week, Nikhil Nair‘s men’s B1 singles challenge came to an end with a 6-1 loss against Oho of Japan, who returned a high percentage of the Brit’s serves.

Tag Archives: Wendy Glasper

Wendy Glasper – VI Tennis Star Selected to attend Women of the Year Awards!

Tennis: Chris Baily and Brenda Cassell reach the finals on the international stage!