27/10/13
Gordon Reid and Jiske Griffioen won their second Nottingham Indoor Wheelchair Tennis Tournament titles apiece on Sunday as the final British world-ranking event on the 2013 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour drew to a close at Nottingham Tennis Centre.
British No. 1 and world No. 4 Reid claimed his second men's singles title in three years and Dutch world No. 3 Griffioen secured her second successive Nottingham Indoor title.
Second seed Reid and Dutch top seed Maikel Scheffers met in the men's final in Nottingham for the third successive year after both having beaten each other in the last two finals, but 2011 champion Reid proved strongest this time as he claimed a 6-3, 6-3 victory.
Both players held serve in the first four games before Reid broke for a 4-2 lead and he went on to serve out the opening set, which he secured with a powerful forehand down the line. Reid gained the first break of the second set and although Scheffers broke straight back Reid reeled off the last three games of the match to complete victory after 67 minutes.
"I'm really happy and delighted to regain the title," said Reid after beating Scheffers for the second successive tournament this year and for his second successive ITF 1 Series title in a row. "You're not going to play your best tennis all the time and I'm pleased with how I got the job done today. It's my second straight ITF 1 title and my third tournament win in a row, so it give me lots of confidence going into next month's NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters."
Second seed Griffioen dominated the women's singles final this year, recording a 6-1, 6-1 victory after being forced to three sets last year by Germany's Sabine Ellerbrock.
Ellerbrock won just the fourth game of the second set and the sixth game of the second set after going 5-0 down as Griffioen wrapped up her eleventh victory over Ellerbrock in thirteen head-to-heads.
"I'm very pleased with the win today, I felt I controlled the game well and put a lot of pressure on Sabine, with few mistakes. It's great preparation heading into the Masters," said second seed Griffioen, who will bid to retain her NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters title in California in early November.
French third seeds Michael Jeremiasz and Nicolas Peifer brought the tournament to a thrilling conclusion as the men's doubles final, the last match of the tournament, went to a final set tie-break. Jeremiasz and Peifer prevailed 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(0) in a contest lasting just two minutes short of three hours.
World No. 1 ranked junior Alfie Hewett won the all-Brit men's consolation singles final, beating two-time Paralympian and former National champion Alex Jewitt 6-1, 6-4.
The women's consolation singles was won by Dutchwoman Michaela Spaanstra, who defeated Charlotte Famin of France 6-2, 7-5.
Organised by the Tennis Foundation, Nottingham Indoor is an ITF 1 Series event on the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour and has been held at Nottingham Tennis Centre over the last five days, featuring 68 players from 11 countries. The tournament was supported by Nottingham City Council.
26/10/13
Andy Lapthorne retained his quad singles title on Saturday's penultimate day of the Nottingham Indoor Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, while Lucy Shuker and Jordanne Whiley regained the women's doubles title and Antony Cotterill and Adam Field also justified top seeding to win the quad doubles title.
Maikel Scheffers and Gordon Reid will go head-to-head in the men's singles final for the third year in succession on Sunday, while the top two seeds will also meet in the women's singles final for the second year in a row after Jiske Griffioen and Sabine Ellerbrock won their semi-finals.
World No. 2 and top seed Lapthorne got much the better of the exchanges in the opening set of the quad singles final as he raced into a 5-1 lead. With second seed Antony Cotterill contesting his first ITF 1 Series singles final, the world No. 8 managed to win just the fifth game of the second set as Lapthorne sealed a 6-2, 6-1 victory.
"It's always nice to come back to Nottingham and I'm delighted to win this title for the second year in row," said Lapthorne. "The ITF 1 ranking points are very useful going into 2014 and this is great preparation for the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters coming up the week after next."
World No. 4 Reid dominated his all-British men's singles semi-final against eighth seed David Phillipson, comfortably denying the local Nottinghamshire player a second big win in successive days. Reid won the first five games and the last five games of the match for a 6-1, 6-1 victory.
"I'm very pleased with today's performance. Dave had a very good win yesterday against the world No. 7 and is playing well, so I didn't want to let him take control and play his style of game," said Reid. "I thought I was clinical today and I'm looking forward to another final against Maikel."
Scheffers dominated the closing stages of both sets in his semi-final against French fourth seed Nicolas Peifer for a 6-4, 7-5 victory.
Top seed Ellerbrock came from 5-3 down in the second set of her women's singles semi-final to beat British No. 2 and world No. 8 Lucy Shuker 6-2, 7-5 as both semi-finals were contested by former Nottingham Indoor champions.
Dutch defending champion Jiske Griffioen was much more dominant throughout her semi-final against British fourth seed Jordanne Whiley and the world No. 3 sealed a 6-0, 6-2 victory.
London 2012 bronze medallists Shuker and Whiley, the 2011 Nottingham Indoor champions, won the opening set of the women's doubles final against defending champions Ellerbrock and Brit Louise Hunt. Ellerbrock and Hunt led the second set 3-2, when Hunt had to retire due to injury.
The first-time partnership of Richard Green and Lapthorne looked to be on course for an upset in the all-British quad doubles final, but Cotterill and Field rallied late in the second set and dominated the final set to win their first ITF 1 Series doubles title 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.
There was drama in the men's doubles semi-finals as French third seeds Michael Jeremiasz and Peifer comfortably beat the top seeds, Frederic Cattaneo of France and Ronald Vink of the Netherlands, 6-2, 6-1. Second seeds Reid and Scheffers fought back to avoid an upset in the other men's doubles semi-final, eventually defeating the all-British fourth seeded partnership of Alfie Hewett and Marc McCarroll 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Play will begin at 9.30am on Sunday's final day of play, with the men's singles, women's singles and men's doubles finals taking place from 10.00am onwards.
25/10/13
Local Nottinghamshire player David Phillipson produced one of two upsets on Friday's third day of the Nottingham Indoor Wheelchair Tennis Tournament when the British No. 3 defeated world No. 7 Michael Jeremiasz of France for the first time in his career in the men's singles quarter-finals at Nottingham Tennis Centre.
Bingham's Phillipson completed a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 win over third seed Jeremiasz to reach the semi-finals of the Nottingham Indoor for the first time. He will play British No. 1 and world No. 4 Gordon Reid for a place in Sunday's final after second seed and 2011 Nottingham Indoor champion Reid won his all-British quarter-final against British No. 3 Marc McCarroll 6-1, 6-1.
"I'm delighted with the win today. I was playing well on the first two days and playing well in practice and today I felt like I was in a practice session, so I'm really happy. My slice and my forehand were working well. It's the first time I've beaten Michael and on the last few occasions we've gone to three sets I've been a break up in the final set, so it's nice to finish the job today."
The other men's semi-final will see Dutch top seed Maikel Scheffers take on French fourth seed Nicolas Peifer after Scheffers and Peifer both beat fellow countrymen. World No. 3 and defending champion Scheffers fought back from dropping the opening set of his match against fifth seed Ronald Vink to prevail 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 while Peifer beat his London 2012 silver medal winning-doubles partner and sixth seed Frederic Cattaneo.
After Phillipson's win over Jeremiasz, British No. 2 Lucy Shuker also completed an upset when she beat Dutch world No. 5 and third seed Marjolein Buis in the women's singles quarter-finals.
Buis came from behind to win a second set tie-break, but world No. 8 Shuker, the 2008 Nottingham Indoor champion, held on for a 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-3 victory.
"I'm very happy with today's performance, it's one of my best of the year and my first of the season over a world top five ranked player," said Shuker, who will now play German top seed and world No. 2 Sabine Ellerbrock. "It's come at a good time and give me confidence going into the semi-finals and as I head towards next month's NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters in California.
Ellerbrock, who won the Nottingham Indoor title in 2011, came from 2-0 down in the second set of her quarter-final against British No. 3 Louise Hunt to complete a 6-2, 6-3 win.
There will be two Brits in Saturday's women's semi-finals after fourth seed Jordanne Whiley beat fellow Brit Lauren Jones 6-1, 6-2. Whiley now faces Dutch defending champion and second seed Jiske Griffioen after Griffioen took just 40 minutes to beat Frenchwoman Emile Chene 6-0, 6-0.
Saturday's all-British quad singles final will see defending champion and top seed Andy Lapthorne face second seed Antony Cotterill. World No. 3 Lapthorne won his semi-final against fellow Brit Adam Field, but Cotterill had to battle hard in a thrilling conclusion to his semi-final, eventually defeating Italian fourth seed Antonio Raffaele 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(3) after being 5-3 down in the final set.
Organised by the Tennis Foundation, Nottingham Indoor is an ITF 1 Series event on the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour and is held at Nottingham Tennis Centre. The tournament is supported by Nottingham City Council and entry is free to all spectators.
Play will begin at 10.00am on Saturday's penultimate day of play, which features the quad singles and doubles finals, the women's doubles final and the men's and women's singles semi-finals.
24/10/13
Andy Lapthorne made a confident start to his quad singles title defence on Thursday at the Nottingham Indoor Wheelchair Tennis Tournament as the quad singles semi-finalists and men's singles quarter-finalists were decided at the ITF 1 Series event at Nottingham Tennis Centre.
Top seed Lapthorne will be one of three Brits in the quad singles semi-finals after defeating Italy's Alfredo di Cosmo 6-2, 6-3. With all four seeds advancing to the last four, world No. 2 Lapthorne will play fellow Brit and fourth seed Adam Field for a place in the final following Field's 6-2, 6-3 victory over Israel's Haim Lev.
"It was a comfortable start for me and there's plenty to build on for the rest of the week, but I'm happy with today's performance and I look forward to defending my title so that I can go into next month's NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters full of confidence," said Lapthorne.
In the bottom half of the quad singles draw, Britain's world No. 8 Antony Cotterill also opened his campaign in style. Following his first round bye, Cotterill defeated fellow Brit Jack Pegram 6-3, 6-0.
Third seed Antonio Raffaele interrupted the British domination after the Italian beat 16-year-old Ian Payne 6-1, 6-2, repeating his win over Payne in the final of the Austrian Open in August.
All eight seeds are also comfortably through to the men's singles quarter-finals, which will feature a clash between Britain's top two ranked players Gordon Reid and Marc McCarroll after second seed Reid and seventh seed McCarroll both won their second round matches 6-0, 6-0.
Second seed Reid, the 2011 Nottingham Indoor champion and 2012 runner-up, eased to victory over young Dutchman Carlos Anker, while McCarroll beat a British opponent for the second successive day when he powered past Scott Smith.
"I'm very pleased with how it's all coming together," said McCarroll. "I've got some new things I've been working on and I'm trying them out this week and it's so far, so good. I'm really looking forward to the battle of the Brits now against Gordon."
Nottinghamshire eighth seed David Phillipson made it three Brits through to the last eight after beating another fellow Brit, Paul Stewart, 6-1, 6-2, to set up a contest against French third seed Michael Jeremiasz on Friday.
"Everything's going to plan so far, I'm playing well and feeling good," said Phillipson. "It's going to get a lot tougher from here on as I've now got the world's No. 7, but I'm confident I can produce big performance and hopefully I can cause an upset."
Jeremiasz was one of three French seeded players to secure 6-0, 6-0 wins in the second round, alongside fourth seed Nicolas Peifer and sixth seed Frederic Cattaneo, who will now meet in the last eight. A Dutch semi-finalist is also guaranteed after world No. 3 and defending champion Maikel Scheffers and fifth seed Ronald Vink dropped just two games apiece in their all-Dutch quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, the start of the doubles events saw Phillipson and fellow Brit Alex Jewitt advance to the men's doubles quarter-finals without dropping a game, while defending champions and second seeds Ellerbrock and Britain's Louise Hunt reached the women's doubles semi-finals for the loss of just three games.
23/10/13
British women's No. 3 Louise Hunt saved two match points to win the only three set match on Wednesday's first day of the Nottingham Indoor Wheelchair Tennis Tournament at Nottingham Tennis Centre.
Hunt was a set and 6-5 down and 40-15 down against Dutchwoman Michaela Spaanstra in the last match on court before fighting back to complete a 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-3 victory that earns her a women's singles quarter-final against German top seed and world No. 2 Sabine Ellerbrock, who is also Hunt's doubles partner.
"I'm delighted with my mental strength again today. It's the second time in a few weeks I've got myself out of a difficult situation and it's down to my mental toughness, so I'm very pleased to have come through against a good opponent. It's the second time in the last month I've gone to three sets with Micha and I've won both matches."
The women's singles began with 6-0, 6-0 wins for 2010 champion and British No. 1 Jordanne Whiley and 2011 champion Ellerbrock. Meanwhile, Dutch defending champion Jiske Griffioen beat Brit Val Fisher 6-0, 6-0 and 2008 champion and British No. 2 Lucy Shuker beat Dutchwoman Diede de Groot 6-3, 6-2.
Local Nottinghamshire player David Phillipson made a fine start to his Nottingham Indoor challenge after the British No. 3 dropped just one game to British No. 4 Alfie Hewett in their men's singles first round match.
With just one world ranking place currently separating the two players, world No. 21 Phillipson lost just the fourth game of his match against Hewett and the eighth seed moves on to play fellow Brit Paul Stewart for a place in the last eight after Stewart also dropped just one game to Morocco's Ayoub Ettali.
"It was a good solid start today, I thought I played really well and gave Alfie few chances. After the first set I think his head went and I always felt in control," said Phillipson, who could face a quarter-final later in the week against French world No. 7 and third seed Michael Jeremiasz, should he successfully negotiate his second round match against Stewart.
Elsewhere, British No. 1 and world No. 4 Gordon Reid and Dutch world No. 3 Maikel Scheffers, who have contested the last two finals, both recorded comfortable early wins. Reid defeated Hungary's Laszlo Farkas 6-0, 6-2, while defending champion Scheffers swept past Brit Shaun Swetman 6-0, 6-0.
Adam Field was the only seeded player in action in the first round of the quad singles and he safely reached the last eight after defeating fellow Brit Richard Green 6-3, 6-2.
Britain's world No. 3 Andy Lapthorne and world No. 8 Antony Cotterill both had first round byes in the quad singles and will begin their challenges on Thursday's second day of play against Sophie Fraioli of France and Britain's Jack Pegram respectively.
Play will once again begin at 9.30am on Thursday.
22/10/13
Local Nottinghamshire favourite and British No. 3 David Phillipson will meet British No. 4 and world No. 1 ranked junior Alfie Hewett in the pick of Wednesday's men's singles first round matches as the Nottingham Indoor Wheelchair Tennis Tournament gets underway in its first year with ITF 1 Series status.
Just one world ranking place separates world No. 21 Phillipson and world No. 22 Hewett, so there will be plenty for the two Brits to play for, with Phillipson having beaten Hewett in straight sets in their only two meetings to date on the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour, both of which have come this season.
Elsewhere in the men's singles draw, British No. 1 and 2011 Nottingham Indoor champion Gordon Reid faces Hungary's Laszlo Farkas in his opening match. Dutch world No. 3 Maikel Scheffers, who lost to Reid in the 2011 final, but beat the Brit in the 2012 title decider, will start his title defence against Brit Shaun Swetman.
Meanwhile, British No. 2 Marc McCarroll faces another fellow Brit and a second local Nottinghamshire player when he takes on Glen Gent.
The first round of the women's singles will see 2011 Nottingham Indoor champion and world No. 2 Sabine Ellerbrock of Germany and Dutch world No. 3 and defending champion Jiske Griffioen both face British opposition. Ellerbrock plays Laura Coteman and Griffioen faces Val Fisher.
Ellerbrock and Griffioen join Britain's top two ranked players Jordanne Whiley and Lucy Shuker in having won the Nottingham Indoor title in the last five years and 2010 champion, world No. 7 and fourth seed Whiley opens her challenge this year against Frenchwoman Pauline Helouin. World No. 8 Shuker, who has just missed out on one of the four seeded positions, will play leading Dutch junior Diede de Groot.
Brits Andy Lapthorne and Antony Cotterill top the seedings for the quad singles and both have first round byes, along with Italian third seed Antonio Raffaele. World No. 2 and defending champion Lapthorne will play Sophie Fraioli of France or Alfredo di Cosmo of Italy in the quarterfinals.
Adam Field is the only seed in action on the opening day of the quad singles as the fourth seed faces fellow Brit Richard Green.
Wednesday's first day of play begins at 9.30am.
Defending champions Maikel Scheffers, Jiske Griffioen and Andy Lapthorne are among thirteen world top 10 ranked players that will line up for the men's, women's and quad singles at the 2013 Nottingham Indoor Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, which takes place next week at Nottingham Tennis Centre from 23 - 27 October.
Dutch world No. 3 Maikel Scheffers and British No. 1 and world No. 4 Gordon Reid head the entries for the men's singles after beating each other in the last two finals in Nottingham. However, even more is at stake this year for Reid, Scheffers and the other 66 players entered for this year's tournament, after the event was upgraded to ITF 1 Series status in 2013 and therefore carries more world ranking points than ever before.
Reid will arrive in Nottingham on the back of winning the first ITF 1 Series men's singles title of his career just two weeks ago in France, where he defeated the world's top three ranked players in successive days to earn an outstanding victory that resulted in him returning to the world's top four.
British No. 2 Marc McCarroll and local Nottinghamshire player David Phillipson are among the other leading home contenders for the men's singles and are among the eight Brits playing in Nottingham who have all qualified for the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters and the ITF Wheelchair Doubles Masters. The year-end championships for the world's top players take place in Mission Viejo, California just two weeks after the Nottingham Indoor.
Griffioen won her second Nottingham Indoor title in 2012 before going on to win her first NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters title and the Dutch world No. 3 joins German world No. 2 Sabine Ellerbrock and Britain's world No. 7 Jordanne Whiley and world No. 8 Lucy Shuker among a high class entry for the women's singles. All four players have won the Nottingham Indoor title in the last five years.
World No. 3 Lapthorne heads the field for the quad event, having won his first Nottingham Indoor title in 2012. This year his main opposition includes fellow Brits Antony Cotterill and Adam Field, Italy's Antonio Raffaele and Canada's Adrian Dieleman. They are all among a total of 18 Nottingham Indoor entrants scheduled to go on to contest the Masters events next month.
"The last time I played here in Nottingham at the British Open in July I beat a higher ranked player and at last year's Nottingham Indoor I had a really close semi-final, so I definitely love playing in my home town and hopefully there will be lots of local support for myself and the other Brits again. I encourage all local sports fans, especially anyone who has never seen wheelchair tennis before, to come along and cheer us on and they are guaranteed to seem exciting sport," said Phillipson.
"After hosting July's British Open, the Tennis Foundation is delighted to be bringing world class wheelchair tennis back to Nottingham once again, but this year we are especially excited that the Nottingham Indoor Tournament has been upgraded to an ITF 1 Series event status and has such a high class field to match its status in the calendar," added Tournament Director Patrick Hughesman.
Organised by the Tennis Foundation, Nottingham Indoor is an ITF 1 Series event on the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour and is held at Nottingham Tennis Centre. The tournament is supported by Nottingham City Council and entry is free to all spectators.
2012 Champions
Men's singles - Maikel Scheffers
Men's doubles - Gordon Reid and Maikel Scheffers
Women's Singles - Jiske Griffioen
Women's Doubles - Louise Hunt and Sabine Ellerbrock
Quad Singles - Andy Lapthorne
Quad Doubles - Adam Field and Antony Cotterill
Look back at Nottingham Indoor 2012.