16/09/13
Scott Smith, winner of the men's main draw singles at the 2012 National Wheelchair Tennis Championships, claimed main draw singles honours at the 16th Belfast Open, the latest Tennis Foundation Wheelchair Tennis Development Series event and the first in the 2013-2014 Winter Series of tournaments.
Peter Moore won two closely fought matches against Gareth Greene and 2012 Development Series winner Steve Crompton in Pool A in the main draw singles and although Moore was taken to a deciding match tie-break by Crompton, it was Greene that snatched second place in the pool.
There were fewer problems for Stafford Lynn, who dropped just three games across his two matches to finish top of Pool B, while Smith edged out tournament organiser Ivor Jess MBE 7-5, 6-7, (10-6) after another championships tie-break to finish top of Pool C.
There were two fascinating main draw singles semi-finals, both of which went to match deciding tie-breaks, as Jess held off Moore 6-1, 1-6, 10-4, while Smith snatched a 5-7, 6-3, 10-5 win over Lynn. However, Smith made a much better stat to the final and beat Jess 6-4, 6-0 to win the main draw singles title.
A hard won 7-6, 6-3 victory over James Ascroft ensured that Scotland's Neil Duncan finished top of Pool A in the second draw singles after two straight sets wins.
However, Pool B produced a much closer finish as Shahzad Afzal, Chris O'Neill and Stephen Melvin all won one of their two round-robin matches. Despite beating Afzal 1-6, 6-3, 10-7, Melvin finished bottom of the three-play pool as Afzal claimed the top spot on count back.
The close competition continued as the knockout phase of the event got underway, with Afzal getting the better of another deciding match tie-break to defeat Ascroft 6-4, 3-6, (10-4), while Duncan won the points that mattered to beat O'Neill 6-3, 7-5 in the other semi-final. But Afzal once again found the winning formula to win the final 7-5, 6-3.
Tom Risby and Gerry Milligan claimed victory in the only deciding match tie-break in the main draw doubles, beating Shropshire duo Craig Nicholson and Smith 6-4, 3-6, (10-8) to reach the semi-finals, but two straight sets wins saw Lynn and Stephen Watters progress to the final along with Jess and Moore. Lynn and Watters subsequently lived up to their top seeding to win the doubles title 6-1, 6-3.
Afzal and Ascroft secured 6-4, 6-2 wins in both of their round-robin matches in the group phase of the second draw doubles, with Duncan and Melvin earning a 3-6, 7-5, (10-4) win over Jean Daly and O'Neill to also book their place in the final. However, victory ultimately went to Afzal and Ascroft, who won the decider 6-2, 7-5.
View the final results here.