LTA NAME FIVE-STRONG JUNIOR WORLD TEAM CUP SQUAD TO CONTEST BOYS' AND GIRLS' WHEELCHAIR EVENTS IN BELGIUM  

The LTA has selected a squad of five wheelchair tennis players for the Great Britain Junior World Team Cup Squad that will contest a new standalone International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior Festival, incorporating the 2026 BNP Paribas World Team Cup Junior Event, in Knokke-Heist, Belgium on 24-31 May.

For the first time since a junior competition was introduced at the ITF’s flagship wheelchair tennis event in 2000, separate boys’ and girls’ draws will be contested in 2026.  

The Great Britain Junior Squad line-up is as follows:

Boys: Captain - Luke Mulvhill

·       Matthew Knoesen (Biddenden, Kent)

·       Lucas de Gouveia (Beckenham, South London/Kent)

·       Will Barton (Gloucester)

Girls: Captain - Merel Wallis De Vries

·        Lucy Foyster (Norwich, Norfolk

·        Ellen Tribley (Canterbury, Kent)

Team Leader: Matt Grover

The three players selected for the boys’ team were all members of the Great Britain junior team that was victorious at the 2025 World Team Cup in Antalya, Turkey, with all three players also currently ranked inside the top five of the ITF’s Junior Wheelchair Tennis Rankings.

Both Lucy Foyster and Ellen Tribley are set to make their World Team Cup junior debuts for Great Britain this year, with Foyster having already become the first British junior female player to win a junior Grand Slam title this year, following victory in the girls’ doubles at this January’s Australian Open.

De Gouveia also became boys’ doubles champion at January’s Australian Open Junior Wheelchair Championships, where Knoesen was a finalist in both boys’ singles and boys’ doubles.

Tribley narrowly missed out on winning her first international junior singles title last week in Italy, with her current career highlight being victory in the girls’ doubles at last year’s Junior Masters in Tarbes, France.

Team Lead Matt Grover, the LTA’s Wheelchair Talent Pathway Manager, said, “In this 50th Anniversary year for wheelchair tennis, it’s an exciting new chapter for the sport to introduce standalone boys’ and girls’ World Team Cup events.

“Having been courtside to witness the magnificent achievement of our Junior World Team Cup Team last year, I look forward to the opportunities that await in Belgium this time, in both the Verhaeghe Open individual tournament and then the World Team Cup boys’ and girls’ events.

“I have no doubt that our five players will represent Great Britain admirably and our goals are to prepare thoroughly, to compete well, and for our young players to grow as athletes and as people motivated to go on and take the next steps in their respective journeys.”