03/05/14
Gordon Reid finished runner-up in the men’s singles for the second successive year at the ACSA SA Open after French world No. 2 Stephane Houdet retained his title 6-3, 6-3.
World No. 3 Reid, winner of the first Super Series singles title of his career at the Sydney International Open in January, held a narrow 2-1 lead as the opening three games of the final in Johannesburg all went with serve. However, top seed Houdet was the stronger at the end of both sets as Brits completed the second Super Series tournament of the year having reached four finals.
02/05/14
Gordon Reid reached the fourth Super Series men’s singles final of his career on the penultimate date of play in South Africa before finishing runner-up in the men’s doubles, with Antony Cotterill, Andy Lapthorne and Lucy Shuker also finishing runners-up in their respective quad doubles and women’s doubles finals.
Reid won the last five games of his men’s singles semi-final against fifth seed Nicolas Peifer to wrap up a 6-4, 6-2 victory, avenging his loss to Peifer in the quarter-finals of last week’s Gauteng Open. World No. 3 and second seed Reid will now hope to reverse his loss to Peifer’s fellow Frenchman and world No. 2 Stephane Houdet in last year’s final in Johannesburg.
Cotterill and Lapthorne put up a fine performance as they came agonisingly close to winning the quad doubles final against Sarah Hunter of Canada and USA’s David Wagner, but top seeds Hunter and Wagner held on in a final set tie-break to prevail 6-1, 2-6, 7-6(3).
Earlier in the day Lapthorne had his quad singles title defence ended by world No. 1 Wagner. Lapthorne twice came from a break down to level the opening set of their semi-final at 5-5, but Wagner won eight of the last nine games to advance to the final 7-5, 6-1.
Shuker and her partner Aniek van Koot were on court twice in the women’s doubles, completing their semi-final that had been suspended on Thursday night due to bad light for a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Germany’s Sabine Ellerbrock and Francisca Mardones of Chile before returning to the court for the final later in the day. However, with van Koot having also played her women’s singles semi-final earlier in the day, Shuker and van Koot slipped to a 6-1, 6-0 loss to second seeds Marjolein Buis and Kgotahtso Montjane.
After their singles semi-final, Reid and Peifer also teamed up for the men’s doubles final, but the second seeds lost out to the all-French top-seeded pairing of Frederic Cattaneo and Houdet 6-3, 6-1.
01/05/14
Gordon Reid and Andy Lapthorne moved into the men’s singles and quad singles semi-finals ahead of the final two days of the SA Open, while Reid and Frenchman Nicolas Peifer reached the men’s doubles final and Antony Cotterill and Lapthorne booked their place in the quad doubles final. Lucy Shuker and Aniek van Koot of the Netherlands also won the first set of their women’s doubles semi-final before play was suspended for the day.
Second seed Reid beat Japanese eighth seed Takashi Sanada in the last eight of the men’s singles and will now bid to avenge his quarter-final loss to Frenchman Nicolas Peifer at last week’s Gauteng Open.
Defending quad singles champion Lapthorne recovered from an indifferent second set in his quad singles quarter-final against American eighth seed David Buck to advance 6-0, 3-6, 6-2. World No. 3 Lapthorne will now play American world No. 1 David Wagner for a place in the final.
However, Jamie Burdekin and Antony Cotterill both bowed out in the last eight of the quad singles. Despite Cotterill taking South African world No. 2 Lucas Sithole to a third and final set for the first time since, second seed Sithole eventually prevailed 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Burdekin injured his back when coming off court after his match on Wednesday’s second day of play and, unable to produce his best tennis in his quarter-final, the world No. 4 slipped to a 6-2, 6-1 loss to Canada’s world No. 6 Sarah Hunter.
With Burdekin’s injury resulting in withdrawal from the quad doubles, second seeds Cotterill and Lapthorne will fly the flag for Britain in the final after defeating South Africa’s David Mathebula and Danny Mohlamonyane 6-0, 6-0. Cotterill and Lapthorne face top seeds Hunter and Wagner in the final.
Second seeds Reid and Peifer beat Yoshinobu Fujimoto of Japan and Evans Maripa of South Africa 6-0, 7-5 to reach the men’s doubles final and the second seeds will play French top seeds Frederic Cattaneo and Stephane Houdet for the title.
World No. 8 Shuker made a promising start to her women’s singles quarter-final against Dutch defending champion Marjolein Buis, but world No. 6 Buis eventually moved on to the semi-finals 7-6,(3), 6-2.
However, there was better news for Shuker in the women’s doubles when she and van Koot took the opening set of their semi-final against Sabine Ellerbrock of Germany and Francisca Mardones of Chile 6-2. Ellerbrock and Mardones led the second set when play was suspended due to bad light.
30/04/14
All five Brits moved comfortably into the quarter-finals of their respective singles events on the second day of play, as Antony Cotterill and Andy Lapthorne also reached the quad doubles semi-finals, Lucy Shuker moved into the women’s doubles semi-finals and Gordon Reid advanced to the men’s doubles semi-finals.
Lapthorne opened his quad singles title defence with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Israel’s Itay Erinlib. Third seed Lapthorne plays American David Buck next.
New world No. 4 Jamie Burdekin also dropped just two games, defeating South Africa’s David Mathebula 6-0, 6-2. The fourth seed takes on fifth seed Sarah Hunter of Canada for a place in the semifinals. The most comprehensive win of the day for the three Brits in the quad singles belonged to Antony Cotterill, who beat Ferdinand Gallant without dropping a game to earn a quarter-final against South African world No. 2 Lucas Sithole, the runner-up to Lapthorne in 2013.
There was another 6-0, 6-0 victory for Lucy Shuker, who now plays Dutch third seed and defending champion Marjolein Buis for a place in the women’s singles semi-finals after easing past South Africa’s Rose van der Meer. Meanwhile, second seed Gordon Reid beat Frenchman Thomas Vinatier 6-0, 6-1 to earn a place in the last eight of the men’s singles against eighth seed Takashi Sanada of Japan.
Cotterill and Lapthorne are set to play their second successive South African partnership in the quad doubles after the second seeds swept past Gallant and Quen Nhlapo 6-0 6-0. Cotterill and Lapthorne now play Mathebula and Danny Mohlamonyane for a place in the final.
After winning last week’s Gauteng Open partnering Sabine Ellerbrock, Shuker will now have the German on the opposite side of the net in the women’s doubles semi-finals in Johannesburg. Top seeds Shuker and Dutchwoman Aniek van Koot followed up their first round bye with a 6-0, 6-2 win over South Africans Rose van der Meer and Mariska Venter ahead of facing third seeds Ellerbrock and Francisca Mardones of Chile.
Meanwhile, Reid and Frenchman Nicolas Peifer, the second seeds for the men’s doubles, moved into the last four after beating Israel’s Amir Levi and Asaaf Stokol. 6-0 6-1. Reid and Peifer play Japan’s Yoshinobu Fujimoto and South Africa’s Evans Maripa for a place in the final.
29/04/14
Gordon Reid was the only Brit in action on the opening day of play in Johannesburg and booked his place in the second round of the men’s singles and the quarter-finals of the men’s doubles.
Second seed Reid beat South Africa’s Evans Maripa 6-1, 6-3 to book a contest against Thomas Vinatier of France for a place in the last eight of the men’s singles. Reid and Frenchman Nicolas Peifer of France are second seeds for the men’s doubles and began their challenge with a 62 60 win over South Africa’s Leon Els and Marshall Marsh. Reid and Peifer will meet Israeli duo Amir Levi and Asaaf Stokol in the quarter-finals.
Lucy Shuker, Jamie Burdekin, Antony Cotterill and Andy Lapthorne all begin their challenges on the second day of play.
28/04/14
Andy Lapthorne returns to the tournament where he won his first Super Series quad singles title in 2013, while Gordon Reid also reached his second men’s singles Super Series final at the SA Open last year after securing his first career win over Japan’s world No. 1 Shingo Kunieda in the semi-finals.
With Reid flying for flag for Britain in the men’s singles and doubles, Lucy Shuker is the sole Brit in the women’s singles and doubles as she bids to follow up her doubles title at last week’s Gauteng Open by winning her second successive SA Open doubles crown. World No. 8 Shuker, also the fifth seed for the women’s singles, is aiming to earn back-to-back Super Series doubles titles after sharing in the women’s doubles title at the Sydney International Open in January.
Jamie Burdekin and Antony Cotterill join Cotterill in a three-way British challenge in the quad singles and doubles, with Burdekin starting the tournament at career best world No. 4 singles ranking after reaching the semi-finals of the Gauteng Open.