Hampshire’s Peter Norfolk and Warwickshire’s Jordanne Whiley won the men’s and women’s main draw singles titles on Monday as the 2011 National Wheelchair Tennis Championships drew to an exciting close at Oxstalls Indoor Tennis Centre, Gloucester.
Norfolk created a piece of history when he became the first player to win the quad singles and men’s singles National titles, but not before having to fend off a determined performance in Monday men’s main draw final from Devon 18-year-old Josh Steels.
Already a two-time quad singles champion at the National Championships, two-time Paralympic champion and world No. 2 quad singles player Norfolk had dropped just four games en route to the final and broke Steels immediately as he opened up a 4-1 lead.
However, Steels was more than equal to the task and calmly chipped away at the deficit with some impressive attacking play as Norfolk began making more and more errors. Steels led the match for the first time at 6-5 and, after Norfolk had forced the tie-break, Steels then went 3-1 ahead.
However, with 20 years of experience behind him and having played the sport four times longer than Steels, Norfolk found a way to win six of the next seven points to snatch the advantage.
Norfolk went 5-3 up in the second set, but once again Steels showed few signs of feeling the pressure and produced a solid service game to stay in the match before levelling the set at 5-5.
As the second set ultimately ended in another tie-break, Steels came from 4-1 down to move to within one point of Norfolk at 5-4 and confidently placed two forehand winners to save two match points at 6-4 and 6-5 in the tie-break. He then saved a third match point in between creating two set points of his own, with Norfolk hitting a backhand long on Steels’ second set point to send the final into a decider.
However, Norfolk broke to lead the final set 3-0 and with Steels finally committing more errors than he was creating winners, the lead grew to 5-1 before Steels put one last backhand into the net to give Norfolk a 7-6(4), 6-7(8), 6-2 victory.
“After a three hour match I’m extremely elated, but tired,” said Norfolk. “I came here expecting quite a comfortable weekend and to get a bit of match practice, so to end up with the title after such a tight match, I’m delighted.
"But at the same time I’m extremely impressed by the juniors, both Josh and Alfie, they are fantastic players and so quick. All I managed to do was keep the pressure on them, but these are the kind of touch matches I need leading in to the French Wheelchair Tennis Open Super Series event in a few weeks.”
In the women’s singles final 20-year-old Wiltshire-based British No 3 Louise Hunt was involved in the closest match between herself and Whiley at the National Championships for several seasons.
However, after the two players swapped games throughout both sets of their contest, 18-year-old Whiley managed to earn the vital service breaks in the final two games of each set to clinch her fourth National title in five years after a 6-4, 7-5 victory.
Whiley added a second title when pairing up with West Sussex 15-year-old Lauren Jones to beat Hunt and Shropshire’s Val Fisher 6-2, 6-1 in the women’s doubles final.
It was a first senior main draw National title for Jones, who was competing in just her second National Championships, and her third title of the weekend after she won the Lord’s Taverners Wheelchair Tennis Junior girls’ singles title on Sunday and Monday’s women’s B Division singles final.
Norfolk won his second title of the weekend in the men’s main draw doubles, partnering fellow Hampshire player Andy McErlean to a 6-3, 6-0 victory in the final against Avon’s Steve Metcalfe and Scotland’s Keith Thom.
Meanwhile, after winning the Lord’s Taverners Wheelchair Tennis Junior boys’ singles title on Sunday, Norfolk 13-year-old Alfie Hewett added his second victory when beating McErlean 7-6(6), 6-2 in Monday’s men’s main draw consolation singles final.
Hewett put up an admirable effort before losing out to new men’s singles champion Norfolk in Friday’s main draw first round.
The 2011 National Championships ended with local Gloucestershire success after 2010 women’s B Division singles winner Emma Aldred-Tow, from Cheltenham, won an enthralling women’s main draw consolation singles final, beating Fisher 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
The 2011 National Wheelchair Tennis Championships was supported by The Tennis Foundation and the National Wheelchair Tennis Association of Great Britain, as well as Babolat and Highland Spring.
Image - Jordanne Whiley and Peter Norfolk by Roy Smiljanic Photography
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