Gordon Reid continued to carry British hopes in the men’s singles at the British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships when he moved into the quarter-finals at Nottingham Tennis Centre on Wednesday. Wimbledon Champion Reid overcame a second set dip against Takuya Miki of Japan to win in straight sets 6-0, 7-5 to set up a rematch of his Wimbledon final against Stefan Olsson.
“I’m glad to get the win, I dropped off in that second set when he stepped up his level but I was able to step it up and close it out in two sets. Miki is a tough opponent as he proved in that second set. But I found a way to win it which is pleasing,” said Reid.
“The wind made it a bit more difficult today so I had to adjust my game accordingly. I’m looking forward to playing doubles tomorrow with Alfie (Hewett) and picking up where we left off at Wimbledon. We also won here last year which was our first Super Series title together and since then we’ve grown as a partnership, so I’m hoping we can do the same this week.”
Aside from Reid it was a tough day for his fellow Brits with some close losses in doubles. Nottinghamshire based David Phillipson paired up with his intended Rio 2016 partner Marc McCarroll. The duo went down narrowly in a final set tie-break against French third seeds Michael Jeremiasz and Frederic Cattaneo.
With Jeremiasz and Cattaneo having doubles gold and silver medals between them from the last two Paralympics, Phillipson and McCarroll were edged out 6-2, 5-7 7-6(2).
“We played some good tennis and in some patches we were just too inconsistent,” said Phillipson. “We’ve both been coming back from injury so bearing that in mind to go to a final set tie-break with them was positive. It’s a nice confidence boost before Rio and with a few weeks training to get even sharper together, hopefully we can do something special in Rio.”
The second day of men’s singles competition saw South Africa’s Evans Maripa upset Argentina’s Roland Garros champion and fifth seed Gustavo Fernandez 6-2, 6-4.
While there was little hint of an upset in any of the other singles matches, London 2012 bronze medallists Jordanne Whiley and Lucy Shuker threatened to dethrone Dutch top seeds Jiske Griffioen and Aniek van Koot on the opening day of the women’s doubles. However, Grififoen and van Koot prevailed 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
Photo courtesy of the Tennis Foundation