HALESOWEN'S wheelchair tennis star Jordanne Whiley is preparing to defend her Wimbledon crown.

Whiley and Japanese doubles partner Yui Kamiji will begin their quest for back-to-back titles at SW19 this Friday.

The top seeds will play Britain’s Louise Hunt and Germany’s Katharina Kruger in a semi-final contest that is a repeat of last November’s Masters final in California.

Whiley and Kamiji won that match-up to retain their Doubles Masters title and after finishing runners-up at Roland Garros last month, they will be aiming for their sixth Grand Slam doubles title in the last seven majors, having completed the calendar year Grand Slam in 2014.

"Winning my home Grand Slam in 2014 was an absolutely unforgettable experience and Wimbledon is my favourite tournament, so it's going to be very special being on court with two Brits in our semi-final and hopefully some enthusiastic crowds cheering us on,” said Whiley.

“Me and Yui have had several days of practice on the grass now and we're looking forward to moving on from Roland Garros and defending our Wimbledon title."

The 23-year-old was recently awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List after becoming the first British tennis player to complete a calendar year Grand Slam in any event last year.

The winners will play either the other Anglo-German partnership in the women’s doubles, Lucy Shuker and Sabine Ellerbrock, or reigning Roland Garros champions and former Wimbledon champions Jiske Griffioen and Aniek van Koot from the Netherlands.

“I’m really excited to be playing at Wimbledon again, there’s never an easy draw and I’m looking forward to playing some good tennis in front of the home crowd. I’ve been practicing well with some good training on the grass courts and am feeling good,” said Shuker, who is playing in her seventh successive women’s wheelchair tennis doubles event at Wimbledon and aiming for her fourth final after finishing runner-up with Australia’s Daniela di Toro in both 2009 and 2010 and runner-up again with Whiley in 2012.