Norfolk won Britain's first ever Paralympic medal at tennis

Norfolk, who won quad singles gold for Britain at the 2004 Paralympics, heads back to Nottingham to defend his title.

Dutch world number two Ammerlaan makes his tournament debut as top seed in the main draw.

He is joined by local favourite Jayant Mistry, while Lucy Shuker leads British chances in the women's singles.

Eighty players from 11 nations will take part in the final British-based world ranking event of the 2006 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour which ends on Sunday.

Norfolk, who won Britain's first Paralympic tennis gold in Athens two years ago, is one of five top-10 quad players in action in Nottingham.

Mistry has endured a difficult year with injuries

He is joined by Italian duo Giuseppe Polidori and Antonio Raffaele, Monique de Beer of the Netherlands and Shraga Weinberg of Israel.

On his last visit to Nottingham in July, Ammerlaan won the men's main draw singles title at the British Open, one of just four tournaments on the 2006 NEC Tour to have Super Series status - the equivalent of a Grand Slam.

Also in the main draw is compatriot and world number Maikel Scheffers, along with Belgian Gert Vos and Japanese player Yoshinobu Fujimoto.

Seven-times former champion Mistry will also be hoping he can near the end of his season on a positive note after struggling with elbow and wrist injuries.