ITF Name BNP Paribas Title Sponsor of Wheelchair Tennis WC

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has announced that BNP Paribas will become the new title sponsor of the World Team Cup wheelchair tennis event in 2012.

The deal will last for five years, anesthetist running through 2016, after the sponsorship was announced today, April 28, at the 27th World Team Cup taking place in Pretoria, South Africa.

The World Team Cup is the ITF’s flagship wheelchair tennis event, often referred to as the Davis and Fed Cups of wheelchair tennis having grown with almost 200 players representing 64 teams from 34 countries this year.

BNP Paribas joined the ITF’s family of sponsors in 2001 and went on to take over title sponsorship of Davis Cup the next year. The bank first became involved in wheelchair tennis in 2009 as an Official Partner of Wheelchair Tennis, and has also been an official partner of the World Team Cup since 2009.

Additionally, the agreement includes sponsorship of Fed Cup, Junior Davis Cup, Junior Fed Cup, and the biennial Worldwide Coaches Conference and regional coaches workshops.

Alongside the sponsorship announcement, the ITF has launched a new logo for the BNP Paribas World Team Cup that was revealed in Pretoria today.

ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: “BNP Paribas is an outstanding partner of the ITF at all levels of the game, thanks to its longstanding commitment to and enthusiasm for tennis. I am sure that this new sponsorship agreement will help raise the profile of the World Team Cup, which is the most prestigious event on the ITF’s wheelchair tennis calendar.”

Antoine Sire, Head of Brand, Communications and Quality for BNP Paribas, added: “Since 1993, BNP Paribas has been committed to developing wheelchair tennis in France through its support of tournaments, such as the ‘BNP Paribas Open de France Handisport’. In 2009, BNP Paribas became an official partner of the ITF’s wheelchair tennis programmes, thus giving its commitment an international dimension.

“The ITF’s integration of wheelchair tennis within its activities, and the creation of wheelchair tennis stars have made this discipline really spectacular. Wheelchair tennis is very demanding and deserves support to help develop it at the highest competition level. As part of its decision to reinforce its backing in this area, BNP Paribas will be the title sponsor of the BNP Paribas World Team Cup from 2012 for a five-year renewable period. This new partnership strengthens our long-term presence in every area of tennis.”