By Emily Goddard

Stéphane Houdet is hoping to become the first men's player to win the Doubles Masters three years in succession ©Getty ImagesFrench wheelchair tennis star Stéphane Houdet is hoping to become the first men's player to win the Doubles Masters three years in succession with victory at this week's event in Mission Viejo, California.

The two-time Paralympic medallist, who won last year with Great Britain's Gordon Reid and in 2012 with Japan's world number one Shingo Kunieda, and partner Joachim Gérard of Belgium will be aiming to continue the form that saw them winning their first Grand Slam title together at Roland Garros in France in June.

Their biggest challenge at the competition, which takes tomorrow and is scheduled to conclude on Sunday (November 9), is likely to be Argentina's Gustavo Fernandez and France's Nicolas Peifer, who took Gérard and Houdet all the way to a deciding championship tiebreak at the French Open.

Reid, meanwhile, will partner France's Michaël Jeremiasz and Kunieda will team up with South Africa's Evans Maripa in what will be just their second tournament together after winning the Japan Open Super Series in May.

Yui Kamiji and Jordanne Whiley will be looking to retain their title at the Doubles Masters in Mission Viejo ©Getty ImagesYui Kamiji and Jordanne Whiley will be looking to retain their title at the Doubles Masters in Mission Viejo ©Getty Images


Elsewhere, Japan's world number one Yui Kamiji and Great Britain's Jordanne Whiley, winners of the calendar year Grand Slam in women's doubles in 2014, will be out to retain their title in the United States.

Since becoming the first partnership not featuring a Dutch player to win the women's title at the Doubles Masters last year, the pair have claimed all victories this year to also become the first non-Dutch pairing to secure a calendar year set of Grand Slam doubles titles.

The US' quad champions Nick Taylor and David Wagner, who won the US Open, will also be aiming to defend their title.

The Paralympic medallists are one of the most successful doubles pairings in wheelchair tennis, having won more than 230 quad doubles matches together, but they will have to fight off Great Britain's Jamie Burdekin and Andy Lapthorne to keep their crown.

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