Tuesday’s opening day of British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships action will see two of the host nation’s top three go head-to-head, with Marc McCarroll taking on world No.1 Junior Alfie Hewett in round one of the men’s singles at Nottingham Tennis Centre.
McCarroll, British No.2 behind world No. 3 and Roland Garros doubles champion Gordon Reid, is ranked just two places higher than 17-year-old Hewett.
The 2014 runner-up and tournament second seed Reid, who reached the men’s doubles final at Wimbledon over the weekend alongside Michael Jeremiasz of France, faces a potential quarter-final tie against Gustavo Fernandez, the Argentine who teamed up with Nicolas Peifer to take the crown at SW19 on Sunday. Top seed and world No. 2 Stephane Houdet of France could play Sweden’s world No. 10 Stefan Olsson in his second round match.
Nottinghamshire local Dave Phillipson takes on Spain’s Daniel Caverzaschi first up, with a potential second-round meeting with eighth seed Tom Egberink to look forward to.
Meanwhile, three days after collecting her second Wimbledon title, Jordanne Whiley will get her campaign underway in Nottingham. Britain’s No.1 awaits the winner of Tuesday’s match between World No.15 Michaela Spaanstra of the Netherlands and France’s Emmanuelle Morch.
Whiley’s London 2012 bronze medal-winning partner Lucy Shuker will face either fellow Brit Debbie Brazier or wild card Maria Diaz. British No.3 Louise Hunt, who teamed up with Katharina Kruger at Wimbledon last week, faces a tricky first round against Francisca Mardones of Chile, who is ranked just four places below her in the world.
World No.2 Yui Kamiji, who has partnered Whiley to six Grand Slam doubles titles since the start of 2014, starts the defence of her British Open women’s singles title against the USA’s Kaitlyn Verfuerth or Colombia’s Angelica Bernal.
The quad singles sees 2014 runner-up Andy Lapthorne with a potential second-round against his London 2012 silver medal-winning partner Peter Norfolk, who meets Greg Hasterok of the United States first up.
Britain’s top three quads go straight through to the second round after being awarded byes, with Jamie Burdekin meeting American Nick Taylor and Antony Cotterill taking on India’s World No. 94 Harry Boniface Prabhu.
Australia’s defending champion Dylan Alcott, who starts the British Open as world No.1, plays either local Nottinghamshire player James Shaw or another Brit, Darren Mitchell, in his opening match.
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