Taylor, Ratzlaff, Heim represent Missouri Valley at World Team Cup
USTA Missouri Valley was well represented at the BNP Paribas World Team Cup in Sardinia, Italy from September 27-October 3, 2021. Wichita had two players representing the section: Nick Taylor in the Quad Division and Casey Ratzlaff in the Men’s Division.
Taylor competed with longtime doubles partner, David Wagner. The duo helped guide the Quad team to a silver medal finish. The team went undefeated in round robin play and beat South Africa in the semifinals before ultimately falling to the Netherlands in the finals.
This was Taylor’s final appearance in a Team World Cup, after being named to every team since 2000. He is also a highly accomplished paralympian with five medals and 11 grand slam titles to his name.
He will return to the city he loves and continue working in the game he loves helping young players, including Ratzlaff, in any way he can.
Ratzlaff, fresh off a busy stretch in which he represented the U.S. in the Paralympic Games in Tokyo and played in the U.S. Open, had a strong showing for the men’s team. He won two singles matches as the team finished in seventh place.
Kevin Heim, the Executive Director at Woods Tennis Center in Lincoln, Neb., was the coach of the U.S. team for the second time. He also coached the 2018 World Cup team to a bronze medal finish in the Netherlands.
Heim was very proud of his team’s performance and was honored to serve as the coach once again.
“The players on the Quad team are historically some of the most recognized players in wheelchair sport and tennis specifically,” he said. “All of our players have been ranked in the top five in the world at one point in their career in singles and doubles. Over their careers, they’ve worked as hard or more than anyone else.”
The U.S. women’s team took home a bronze medal at the event, while the juniors team finished in eighth.
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