Peter Norfolk, the ‘Quadfather’ of British Wheelchair Tennis, began the defence of his Quad Singles title with a 6-0 6-0 demolition of Japan’s Mitsuteru Moroishi on the centre court at Eton Manor on Sunday.
Norfolk is the only player to have won the Paralympic Games Quad Singles title – he took gold at Athens and Beijing - the only two Games to feature the competition.
Seeded three at London 2012, he got his campaign for a historic hat-trick underway with an emphatic victory over the unseeded Japanese player.
“I was a bit nervous if I'm honest, but I'd played him in Japan so I knew what to expect and I felt like I coped well,” said Norfolk, from Alton in Hampshire.
“He can hit some tough shots with a lot of spin so I had to concentrate and I'm very happy with that score.
“The crowd was a bit different to Athens and Beijing and it was amazing to have my family all here,” he added. “I haven't been in great form, but hopefully my competitors can see I'm back to my best and peaking at the right time.
“I will visualise hitting the winning shot but not being on that podium as I need to focus on each match as it comes.”
He faces another unseeded player, Shraga Weinberg from Israel in the next round.
Neither Jamie Burdekin nor Andy Lapthorne could progress. Unseeded Burdekin started well against no. 2 seed Noam Gershony from Israel, taking the opening set 6-3.
The Liverpudlian broke Gershony’s serve early in the second set, but the Israeli player battled back to take the second and third sets 6-3 6-3 to progress at Burdekin’s expense.
“My consistency wasn't there today and my first serve wasn't on towards the end of the match,” said Burdekin. “At the end of the day I'm playing the world no. 2 there and he’s the in-form player at the moment, so he's probably one of the favourites to go on and win gold.
“It wasn't great getting him in the first round, but I've prepared for him, I just got beaten by the better player today.
"I'm distraught, I've trained so hard for this moment and it’s going to be a tough pill to swallow."
Fourth seed Lapthorne from Eastcote in Middlesex, won his opening set against Sweden’s Anders Hard 7-5, but the Swede won the next two 6-3 6-3 to book a place in the second round.
“I'm absolutely gutted as I've worked hard for four years for that and I've got a winning record against Hard, so I thought I could get the better of him,” said Lapthorne.
“He beat me at the test event but I knew what I had to do to beat him and I just lost concentration at 7-5, 3-1 up.
“I'm going to focus on the Doubles now and I want to win a medal there to make up for this disappointment,” he added. “The crowd were amazing and I'll never experience anything like this again.”
The Brits were in impressive form in the men’s Singles, with both Dave Phillipson and Gordon Reid progressing through to round three, putting them one win from quarter-final places.
Phillipson, who is unseeded, claimed the scalp of no. 15 seed Martin Legner with a 6-3 6-2 win to avenge his defeat to the Austrian in the same round in Beijing four years ago.
“It was a whole new experience playing on centre court with all those people, but after some nervy breaks of serve in the first set, I settled down a lot more and found my rhythm,” said Phillipson, who lives in Bingham, Nottinghamshire.
“Martin defeated me in Beijing but I felt I played a lot better today and I’m really happy to knock out a seed.”
Phillipson’s reward is a quarter-final against Shingo Kunieda, Japan’s no.2 seed.
“He’s arguably the best player around at the moment. I won’t change my game though and if I play to my best ability, I feel like I’ve got a good chance,” said Phillipson.
No. 9 seed Gordon Reid continued his progress in the men’s Singles draw with an emphatic 6-0 6-0 win over Brazil’s Daniel Alves Rodrigues on court one at Eton Manor this morning.
He now face Stefan Olsson, Sweden’s no. 6 seed, with a place in the quarter-finals at stake.
Reid, a left-handed player from Helensburgh in Scotland, said he was glad the work he has been putting in on his serve is paying off at London 2012.
“It was a different experience to playing on centre court yesterday but the crowd were amazing again and I seem to be thriving off them.
“The courts are playing very quick and I enjoy that and it makes my serve more effective, especially as I’m a lefty. I’ve been working on my serve a lot this year and it seems to be paying off.
“I’m just looking forward to getting out there in front of the crowd again and hopefully going a lot further in this tournament.”
Reid was back in action on centre court later on partnering Marc McCarroll in the opening round of the men’s Doubles. The no. 7 seeds made a successful start beating Philippe Bedard and Joel Dembe of Canada 6-3 6-1.
McCarroll, from Ickenham in Middlesex, said: “it was my first time on Centre but Gordon really helped me through it. It feels very different to court one with the steep stands full of people and there's more space at the back of the court than I'm used to.
“I probably took a few too many balls on the second bounce but I'm used to it now and we're confident going into the next round tomorrow.”
Reid added: “Being back out there was amazing and I really enjoyed playing with Marc. We played some great tennis and now I've got a few matches under my belt I'm happy with my rhythm and raring to go again tomorrow.”
Reid and McCarroll face Belgium’s Mike Denayer and Joachim Gerard for a place in the quarter-finals.
Alex Jewitt and Dave Phillipson also progressed to the second round of the Doubles with a 6-3 6-2 win over the Argentine pair Yann Avanthey and Daniel Pellegrina. They now face France’s no. 1 seeds Stephane Houdet and Michael Jeremiasz.
Phillipson said: “I really enjoyed playing with Alex and the Doubles was as fun as the Singles. We both hit some excellent shots which we needed to do as the Argentinians can be a tricky pair. They would have happily been out there all day.
“So we can't ask for more than that and I'm enjoying it more ever time I get out on court.”
Jewitt said: “On paper we should have won but that's easier said than done so we're happy to get the result.
“We both played really well and it's much more fun winning than losing so that helps with the Singles loss,” he added. “We've got a tough draw next against the French top seeds but we'll give it a good go. We've trained a lot together over the past year so hopefully that will stand us in good stead."
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