01/12/13
Gordon Reid, Lucy Shuker (pictured) and Andy Lapthorne became men's, women's and quad singles champions on Sunday's final day of the British Wheelchair Tennis Championships at the National Tennis Centre in London, with Shuker becoming national champion for a third time, while Reid and Lapthorne won their second national titles.
After becoming the youngest player to become National men's champion in 2007, British No. 1 Reid was due to face 2008 champion and David Phillipson in Sunday's men's singles final, but third seed Phillipson had to withdraw in advance due to a wrist injury.
Shuker's two previous women's singles titles in 2006 and 2009 had been followed by back-to-back victories for current British No. 1 Jordanne Whiley. However, despite world No. 7 Whiley having won four of their five matches in international tournaments this year, current British No. 2 and world No. 8 Shuker ensured that she had the edge in their last clash of 2013, earning a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Top seed Lapthorne followed up his 2010 victory in the quad singles by fending off second seed Antony Cotterill this year's final.
World No. 3 Lapthorne defeated his world No. 8 ranked opponent 6-4, 6-1 to claim the national title for the second time, with Cotterill ending the British Championships as quad doubles champion, having partnered Jamie Burdekin to victory on Saturday's penultimate day of play at the National Tennis Centre.
Shuker clinched her second title of the championships in the women's doubles, partnering Louise Hunt. The top seeds and 2006 champions regained the title together after beating Whiley and Lauren Jones, the 2011 champions, 6-0, 6-2. Shuker is now a four-time National doubles champion, while Hunt has won the women's doubles title five times.
Top seeds Reid and Marc McCarroll are the men's doubles champions for 2013 after Phillipson's injury meant that he and Ed Holt, the second seeds, were also forced to withdraw from the schedule men's doubles final. Reid and McCarroll are National champions for the second time, but the first time as a partnership, having both previously won the title partnering Phillipson.
30/11/13
David Phillipson upset the seeding to remain on course for his second men's singles National title on Saturday as Lucy Shuker fought back from a set down to maintain her own bid for a third women's singles title during an engrossing third day of the British Wheelchair Tennis Championship that also saw the top two seeds reach Sunday's quad singles final.
British No. 3 Phillipson beat British No. 2 Marc McCarroll 6-3, 6-4 in his men's singles semi-final and the 2008 champion will now play 2007 champion and top seed Gordon Reid for this year's title. British No. 1 Reid, whose victory in 2007 saw him become the youngest men's National champion, eased to a comfortable victory for the second successive day when he beat fourth seed Ed Holt 6-1, 6-1.
Second seed Shuker faced arguably her biggest ever challenge from British No. 3 Louise Hunt, but managed to win the last two games of the second set to her campaign alive and went on to win her semi-final 2-6, 7-5, 6-2. Shuker will play British No. 1 Jordanne Whiley in Sunday's women's final after four-time champion Whiley earned a 6-0, 6-0 win over 2012 champion Debbie Brazier
The first National title of the week was decided in the quad doubles as top seeds Jamie Burdekin and Antony Cotterill powered past their less experienced opponents Richard Green and James Shaw 6-0, 6-0 and Coterill will not bid to complete a brace of titles on Sunday after beating Green 6-0, 6-3 in their quad singles semi-final.
Second seed Cotterill will play top seed Andy Lapthorne for the title after Lapthorne, the 2010 champion, overcame three-time champion Burdekin 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 in the other semi-final.
Sunday's men's doubles final will also see men's singles finalists Reid and Phillipson on opposite sides of the net.
Top seeds McCarroll Reid best Mehboob Hussain and John Lambert 6-0, 6-2 in the semi-fnals, while second seeds Ed Holt and Phillipson eased past James Ascroft and Scott Smith 6-0, 6-0. Phillipson has already won three National doubles titles with three different partners, including McCarroll and Reid, between 2007 and 2009.
Two sets of champions will meet in the deciding round-robin match in the women's doubles.
Hunt and Shuker, the 2006 champions, will play Lauren Jones and Whiley, the 2011 champions, after both partnerships beat Brazier and Val Fisher 6-0, 6-0 on the first day of women's doubles competition.
Find out the latest news and results from the National Wheelchair Tennis Development Series, which is taking place alongside the British Championships, here.
29/11/13
British No. 3 and 2011 runner-up Louise Hunt set up a semi-final against British No. 2 Lucy Shuker as the women's singles got underway on the second day of the British Wheelchair Tennis Championships, while all four seeds reached the men's singles semi-finals.
Hunt powered past British No. 4 Lauren Jones 6-0, 6-0 ahead of meeting 2006 and 2009 champion Shuker in the last four on Saturday, while top seed and four-time British champion Jordanne Whiley will face 2012 champion Debbie Brazier after Brazier edged out Val Fisher 6-4, 7-5.
The four men's singles quarterfinals saw Britain's top three players all secure 6-0 6-0 victories.
British No. 1 Gordon Reid began his challenge for a second National title by beating John Lambert. Reid, the 2007 champion, will now meet fourth seed Ed Holt after Holt's 6-3, 6-0 victory over David Cabrera.
British No. 2 Marc McCarroll and British No. 3 David Phillipson will meet in the other semi-final after Phillipson, the 2008 National champion, beat Scott Smith. McCarroll began his bid for a first National title by defeating Tony Knappett. McCarroll and Phillipson advanced without dropping a single game between them.
The start of the men's doubles saw the West Midlands duo of Mehboob Hussain and Lambert beat Cabrera and 2012 doubles champion Glen Gent 6-0 6-1 to earn a semi-final against top seeds McCarroll and Reid, both of whom have previously won the men's doubles partnering Phillipson.
Second seeds Phillipson and Holt will meet James Ascroft and Scott Smith in the other semi-final after having byes into the last four.
Saturday's third and penultimate day of play at the National Tennis Centre will feature the men's and women's singles semi-finals, the men's doubles semi-finals and the quad doubles final as well as the first round-robin matches in the women's doubles.
28/11/13
Shropshire's Scott Smith, the winner of the men's singles National title in 2012, will play British No. 3 and third seed David Phillipson in this year's quarter-finals after the 2013 British Wheelchair Tennis Championships and Tennis Foundation National Development Series finals got underway on Thursday, with the quad singles semi-finalists also being decided at the National Tennis Centre in London.
Smith beat Glen Gent 6-3, 6-4 to prevent an all-Nottinghamshire quarter-final, after Phillipson, the 2008 champion, had a first round bye.
Also in the bottom half of the men's draw, former GB international Tony Knappett won an all-Lancashire contest against James Ascroft, Knappett's 6-0, 6-1 earning him a quarter-final against second seed Marc McCarroll.
The experience of John Lambert also proved too much for Mehboob Hussain as the two West Midlands players went head-to-head, with Lambert earning a 6-0, 6-2 victory that sets him up with a quarter-final against British No. 1 Gordon Reid. Fourth seed Ed Holt and David Cabrera will contest the remaining quarter-final.
Jamie Burdekin and James Shaw both recorded comfortable straight sets wins to earn their places in the quad singles semi-finals.
Three-time National champion Burdekin, playing his first match since July, made a confident start to his quad singles challenge when he beat his young opponent Jack Pegram 6-0, 6-0. Former world No. 5 Burdekin will now play current world No. 4 and top seed Andy Lapthorne in what should be an enthralling semi-final.
Green beat James Shaw 6-1, 6-3 and will now face second see Antony Cotterill.
As well as the men's singles quarter-finals, Friday's second day of play will also feature the start of the women's singles, with two quarter-finals matches set to decide who will play the top two seeds, Jordanne Whiley and Lucy Shuker.
27/11/13
Former champions Gordon Reid and David Phillipson are drawn in opposite halves of the draw for the 2013 British Wheelchair Tennis Championships, with Reid, the youngest ever National champion in 2007, drawn for a potential semi-final against fourth seed Ed Holt.
Second seed Marc McCarroll faces a potential semi-final against third seed and 2008 National champion Phillipson after the main protagonists had byes through to the quarter-finals.
Scott Smith, who won the men's singles title in 2012 in the absence of Reid, McCarroll and Phillipson, who were all on international duty at the World Team Cup, will face 2012 semi-finalist Glen Gent for a place in this year's quarter-finals, with the winner set to meet Phillipson.
Top seed Jordanne Whiley, who also became the youngest winner of the women's singles National title in 2007, will play either 2012 champion Debbie Brazier or Val Fisher in the semi-finals this year after Whiley and another former champion, second seed Lucy Shuker, also received byes into the last four. Louise Hunt, the runner-up to Whiley in 2011, will play Lauren Jones for a place in the semi-finals.
The quad singles semi-finals will potentially feature a clash between two former champions, with three-time National champion Jamie Burdekin set to play Jack Pegram in their opening match. The winner will face current world No. 3 and top seed Andy Lapthorne, the 2010 champion. Richard Green and James Shaw will go head-to-head for the right to play second seed Antony Cotterill.
22/11/13
London 2012 medallists Jordanne Whiley, Lucy Shuker and Andy Lapthorne will compete in the nation's capital next week for the first time since last year's Paralympic Games, when a host of star players will contest the British Wheelchair Tennis Championships at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton.
The Paralympic medallists will also be inspiring the next generation of players as the Tennis Foundation National Development Series Finals run alongside the National Championships from 28 November to 1 December.
The Championships will be the first competitive outing for Gordon Reid and Whiley since the two British No. 1s shared in the men's and women's titles at the ITF Wheelchair Doubles Masters in California and both players will bid to add to their collection of domestic titles after becoming the youngest ever British men's and women's singles champions in 2007.
Whiley has become National champion four times since 2007 and her main opposition for the women's singles title this year is likely to come from Shuker, the player she partnered to win the bronze medal in the women's doubles at London 2012. Shuker, currently world ranked just one place behind Whiley, is a two-time National champion and will be aiming to win the title for the first time since 2009.
Reid's historic win in 2007 brought him his only National men's singles title to date and the Scot will start a warm favourite this time as he bids to fend off opposition from British No.2 Marc McCarroll and 2008 National champion and current British No. 3 David Phillipson.
Lapthorne, who partnered the now-retired former National champion Peter Norfolk to win silver in the quad doubles at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, has also been crowned National quad singles champion, winning the title in 2010. The Londoner's opposition this year will include fellow world top 10 ranked player Antony Cotterill and three-time National champion and Beijing 2008 quad doubles bronze medallist Jamie Burdekin.
Alongside the British Championships the inaugural Tennis Foundation National Development Series Finals will be contested by developing players who earned their qualification by accumulating points in the eight Summer Series tournaments held across the country between April and August this year.
They will include Keith Thom and Steve Metcalfe, who were first and second in the inaugural Development Series in 2012, which was then a straight points race across the season. This is the first time that players have had to qualify for a National Finals event and the entries will also include Shahzad Afzal, who has won two Development Series tournaments this year.
"This is an exciting year for the British Championships as it's the first time that we've held the event at the National Tennis Centre at this time of year and in this format," said Geraint Richards, the Tennis Foundation's Head of Disability Player Performance. "It's been another fantastic year for the players on our Performance Programme and having the British Championships towards the end of the season gives them another focal point and gives us all the chance to celebrate their successes throughout the year.
"An important part of the Championships is to give developing players the chance to compete alongside and watch some of the country's and the world's best in action, while also providing an appropriate level of competition. The very popular calendar of Development Series events allows for that and demonstrates the competitive pathway and opportunities that are available for players of all abilities."
If you would like to attend the event or find out more, please email disabilitytennis@tennisfoundation.org.uk.