28/02/13
Gordon Reid clinched his fourth North East Wheelchair Tennis Tournament men's singles title and his first career title with fellow Brit Alfie Hewett as Britain's second world ranking event on the 2013 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour came to an end at Sunderland Tennis Centre.
Defending champion Reid won his eighth ITF 2 Series men's singles title, beating fourth seed Hewett 6-0, 6-1 to add to his previous victories in Sunderland in 2008, 2009 and 2012.
After finishing runner-up in his first ITF 2 Series singles final, 15-year-old world junior No. 1 Hewett claimed his first ITF 2 Series doubles title, partnering Reid to a 6-0, 6-1 win over Marc McCarroll and Kevin Simpson in the all-British final.
View the final results here (PDF, link opens in new window).
27/02/13
Jordanne Whiley and Jamie Burdekin both won their second NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour singles titles in a week on Wednesday's penultimate day of play in Sunderland, with Whiley claiming a tournament double after partnering Lauren Jones to win the women's doubles title.
Meanwhile, British men's No. 1 Gordon Reid continued his men's singles title defence with a comfortable semi-final victory and Alfie Hewett reached his second NEC Tour final in the space of a week after winning a final set tie-break in his semi-final.
Whiley won her second North East title, following up her victory in 2009. From 2-1 down Whiley won five games in a row against French second seed Chrsitine Schoenn to take the opening set and went on to wrap up a 6-2, 7-5 victory.
Meanwhile, Burdekin also secured his second win over South African world No. 7 Lucas Sithole in the space of a week as he, too, followed up his North West Challenge victory by defeating Sithole 7-5, 6-0.
Whiley later paired up with fellow Brit Lauren Jones to win the women's doubles title, as Jones claimed the first ITF 2 Series doubles title of her career.
Top seeds Jones and Whiley beat French second seeds Emile Chene and Schoenn 6-1, 6-2, as Whiley also followed up her doubles victory at the North West Challenge.
In the men's singles semi-finals, 15-year-old Hewett reached his first ITF 2 Series final just days after winning his first ITF 3 Series title at the North West Challenge.
World No. 1 ranked junior Hewett repeated his win over British No. 3 Marc McCarroll in the final of the North West Challenge, but his task was much tougher this time as he dug deep to edge out McCarroll 7-6(4), 1-6, 7-6(5). Hewett will now play world No. 8 Reid in Thursday's final after Reid beat fellow London 2012 Paralympian and third seed Alex Jewitt 6-0, 6-1 in the other semi-final.
Hewett and Reid will face McCarroll and Kevin Simpson in the all-British men's doubles final. Top seeds Hewett and Reid eased past Pim Palmen of the Netherlands and Josh Steels 6-0, 6-0 in their semi-finals, while second seeds McCarroll and Simpson defeated Eddy Holt and Jewitt 6-4, 6-0.
View Thursday's order of play here (PDF, link opens in new window).
26/02/13
For the second time in a week, British No. 2 Jordanne Whiley will face Christine Schoenn of France in a women's singles final and Jamie Burdekin will meet Lucas Sithole of South Africa in a quad singles final after Tuesday's second day of play a the North East Wheelchair Tennis Tournament.
Whiley will bid to follow up her North West Challenge title after defeating French third seed Emilie Chene 6-1, 6-1 in her semi-final. But second seed Schoenn ended any prospect of an all-British women's fin in Sunderland after defeating Lauren Jones 6-0, 6-0.
In the quad singles semi-finals world No. 6 and second seed Burdekin eased past fellow Brit Richard Green 6-0, 6-0, while world No. 7 Sithole ended the title defence of Britain's Adam Field 6-3, 6-2.
Both the women's singles and quad singles finals wil take place on Wednesday's third and penultimate day of play.
All four top seeds are through to the men's singles semi-finals, with British No. 3 Marc McCarroll and North West Challenge champion Alfie Hewett set for a rematch of their final in Preston less than a week ago.
McCarroll kept up his bid to regain the North East Tournament title with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Dutchman Pim Palmen, while Hewett's challenge for back-to-back titles in successive weeks progressed after he won his quarter-final against Tony Knappet 6-0, 6-1.
The all-British quarter-finals in the top half of the draw ended with top seed and defending champion Gordon Reid beating fellow Scot Peter Moore 6-0, 6-1, while third seed Alex Jewitt beat his Scottish opponent Kevin Simpson 6-3, 6-3.
The first final of the week to be decided was in the quad doubles, as Antony Cotterill and Field retained their North East title after a 6-2, 6-2 win over South African duo Bongani Dhlamini and Sithole.
Meanwhile, Jones and Whiley beat fellow Brits Debbie Brazier and Val Fisher 6-0, 6-1 to reach the women's doubles final. They will now face Chene and Schoenn, who beat Britain's Laura Swetman and Caroline Wareing 6-0, 6-1.
The start of the men's doubles saw Josh Steels partner Palmen to set up a semi-final against top seeds Hewett and Reid, while Jewitt and Eddy Holt won through to meet second seeds McCarroll and Simpson.
View Wednesday's order of play here (PDF, link opens in new window).
25/02/13
Last week's North West Challenge champions Alfie Hewett and Jamie Burdekin both made comfortable starts in their bids for back-to-back men's singles and quad singles titles at the North East Wheelchair Tennis Tournament.
With 13 Brits among the entry of 14 players for the men's singles, Hewett beat another of Britain's up and coming young players Josh Steels 6-1, 7-5 to move into the quarter-finals, where he will meet former GB World Team Cup player Tony Knappett.
British-based Dutchman Pim Palmen will be the first opponent for second seed and British No. 3 Marc McCarroll after Palmen beat Stephen Cox 6-3, 6-3 on the opening day, while McCarroll enjoyed a bye into the last eight.
Three Scots feature in the two quarter-finals in the top half of the men's draw after Paralympians Alex Jewitt and Kevin Simpson both secured first round wins in straight sets and will face each other for a place in the semi-finals.
Playing his first tournament since October after becoming a father for the first time, third seed Jewitt came through a difficult opening match against the improving Eddy Holt 6-3, 6-4, while Simpson eased to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Steve Crompton.
Meanwhile, the vastly experienced Peter Moore beat Shaun Swetman 6-1, 6-0 in his first round match and now plays British No. 1 and fellow Scot Gordon Reid after top seed and defending champion Reid had a first round bye.
The women's singles semi-finals will be exactly the same match-ups as at the North West Challenge, meaning that top seed Jordanne Whiley will meet French third seed Emilie Chene for a place in the final. Chene beat Brit Caroline Wareing 6-0, 6-1 in her opening match in Sunderland, with Whiley having a bye into the last four.
In the bottom half of the women's draw, Lauren Jones won her all-British first round match against Val Fisher 6-4, 6-1, while French second seed Christine Schoenn beat Debbie Brazier 6-0, 6-1, giving Jones a chance to try and avenge her semi-final loss to Schoenn at the North West Challenge.
Three Brits will feature in the semi-finals of the quad singles. Second seed Burdekin began his bid to follow up his North West Challenge victory by defeating 2012 North East Tournament runner-up Antony Cotterill 6-2, 6-0. The other two semi-finals ended in 6-0, 6-0 for British players, with defending champion Adam Field beating South Africa's Bongani Dhlamini and Richard Green easing past Laura Swetman.
After the withdrawal of world No. 3 Andy Lapthorne through injury, South African world No. 7 Lucas Sithole was awarded a walkover into the last four, in which he faces Field for the second time in a week, while Burdekin will play Green.
View Tuesday's order of play here (PDF, opens in new window).
24/02/13
North West Challenge champion and second seed Jamie Burdekin will face 2012 Sunderland runner-up Antony Cotterill in his opening match in a rematch of their semi-final at the North West Challenge. Meanwhile, Adam Field will open his title defence against South Africa's Bongani Dhlamini.
Just three days after winning his first ITF 3 Series title at the North West Challenge, Alfie Hewett could be on for a rematch of last Friday's final against British No. 3 Marc McCarroll after they were drawn in the same half of the men's singles draw.
McCarroll has a first round bye, along with British No. 1, top seed and defending champion Gordon Reid, with Reid in the same half of the draw as fellow London 2012 Paralympian and third seed Alex Jewitt, who makes his seasonal debut after becoming a father for the first time shortly before Christmas.
After the recent withdrawal of British No. 1 Lucy Shuker through injury, Jordanne Whiley is top seed for the women's singles as the British No. 2 bids for back to-back titles after making a triumphant seasonal debut at the North West Challenge.
The draw in Sunderland is such that the women's singles semi-final line-up could be the same as at the North West Challenge, with Whiley drawn in the top half of the draw along with Emilie Chene of France, while Jones has French second seed Christine Schoenn in her half of the draw.
View Monday's order of play here (opens in new window).
19/02/13
Paralympic medallists Andy Lapthorne, Jamie Burdekin, Lucy Shuker and Jordanne Whiley are all set to contest the North East Wheelchair Tennis Tournament at Sunderland Tennis Centre when the event gets underway next week.
The North East Tournament, upgraded from ITF 3 Series to ITF 2 Series status this year, takes place from 25th to 28th February and will be the second event on the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour to be held in Britain in the space of a few days, following the North West Challenge near Preston which is taking place this week.
Last month's Australian Open finalist Lapthorne, who won quad doubles silver at the London 2012 Paralympics, will bid to win his first North East quad singles title. Lapthorne will line-up alongside fellow Brit Jamie Burdekin, currently world ranked No. 6, who was quad doubles bronze medallist at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.
The British players can expect a tough overseas challenge in the quad division from South Africa's world No. 7 Lucas Sithole.
London 2012 Paralympians Gordon Reid, Marc McCarroll and Alex Jewitt head the entry for the men's singles, while world No. 1 ranked junior Alfie Hewett is also set to occupy one of the four seeded positions.
Reid recently became the highest ranked British men's player ever as he reached world No.7 and won the third of his career singles titles in Sunderland last year.
"After starting 2013 by winning an ITF 2 Series title in Adelaide in Australia, it'll be nice to play my next ITF 2 Series in Britain, especially as this tournament has been so successful for me in recent years," said Reid. "There are always some quality entries from home and abroad and with more ranking points available this year I'm sure it will be another great event."
Britain's top two ranked players Shuker and Whiley, who paired up to win bronze in the women's doubles at London 2012, have won the women's singles title in Sunderland four times between them since 2008.
Also among the strong British entry is world No. 1 ranked junior Lauren Jones, while the main overseas opposition will come from Frenchwomen Christine Schoen and Emilie Chene.
"We are thrilled to have ITF 2 Series status this year. It's the highest grade the tournament has ever had in its 17 years and we have one of the highest quality fields ever assembled in Sunderland with top 10 players in each of the men's, women's and quad events, as well as several Paralympic medallists," said Tournament Director John Schofield.
"It all adds up to what should be a fantastic week of wheelchair tennis and gives local sports fans the opportunity to come and watch some world class sport."
Entry is free for spectators.