Gordon Reid and Marc McCarroll gave a great display of wheelchair tennis at London's Earls Court on Monday, 3 March as Britain's top two men's players played a championship tie-break exhibition at the World Tennis Day Showdown at which Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Pat Cash and Ivan Lendl were also in action.
As Cash and Lendl took to the court, Reid and McCarroll had the opportunity to meet Agassi and Sampras before themselves entertaining the enthusiastic crowd in the first-to-ten contest that preceded the match between Agassi and Sampras. Both players were also interviewed by Andrew Castle on court.
British No. 1 Reid showed why he is world No. 3 as he opened up an immediate 2-0 advantage over McCarroll, which the Scot extended to 4-1 and 7-2 before making it 10-3 to bring the exhibition to an end.
“It was brilliant to showcase our sport to so many people and I'm really happy with how I played out there. Now I'm world No.3 I'm getting used to playing in big matches in pressure situations so it was great to get this experience,” said Reid, who began playing wheelchair tennis in 2005 after contracting transverse myelitis, a rare neurological disorder, shortly before his 13th birthday.
“Seeing the legends of the game still playing such high quality tennis is pretty inspirational so hopefully other people get out there and have a game of tennis at their local courts.”
"We don't usually play in front of such a large crowd so there were some nerves but it was a fantastic experience and I really enjoyed it," said Middlesex’s world No. 12 McCarroll, a former semi-professional footballer who also first tried wheelchair tennis in 2005 whilst in rehabilitation after a car accident in 2003.
“To meet Sampras and Agassi earlier and then play on the same court as them is an honour. It was great to be part of the London World Tennis Day celebrations."
The Tennis Foundation and Lawn Tennis Association also hosted an Education Festival to celebrate World Tennis Day with over 150 youngsters having fun at the National Tennis Centre from pre-school to university students.
World Tennis Day is a partnership between the International Tennis Federation and the promoter StarGames that aims to promote tennis and increase participation among players around the globe.
This year’s World Tennis Day was centred around special events in three different time zones in Hong Kong, London and New York.
The events feature current and former professionals together with junior and wheelchair demonstrations, including the ITF’s Tennis Play and Stay campaign. Alongside these events, over 80 of the ITF’s member National Associations are supporting World Tennis Day with their own grassroots and club activities to attract new participants to the sport.
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