16/04/14
Kevin Simpson won the main draw singles for the second successive year at the Edinburgh Wheelchair Tennis Tournament as Dollar’s Beijing Paralympian held of Shropshire’s Scott Smith in the final and also partnered fellow Scot Keith Thom to win the main draw doubles.
The greatly experienced John Lambert, who won the main draw singles at the Loughborough Wheelchair Tennis Tournament earlier this year at the last event in the Tennis Foundation Wheelchair Tennis Winter Development Series, beat two-time Edinburgh runner-up Thom 6-0, 6-0 on the first weekend of the Summer Development Series.
Lambert went forward to the semi-finals and gave Simpson a considerable challenge in the last four, but Simpson finished the stronger to prevail 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.
In the bottom half of the main draw Ryan Macdonald gave Scotland a second semi-finalist, while second seed Smith defeated former two-time Edinburgh champion Peter Moore 6-2, 6-2 to ensure that two athletes from the Midlands would play for a place in the final. However, while Lambert had lost out to Simpson, Smith dominated his semi-final, beating Macdonald 6-0, 6-1.
With the two top seeds playing for the title, Simpson’s experience was vital and he clinched a 6-4, 6-1 win over Smith, the winner of the men’s singles at the 2012 National Championships.
In the B Division singles Jed Boden and Scott Farquhar won two closely contested quarter-finals, Boden beating Conor McQuade 6-3, 6-4 and Faquhar edging Annmarie Monaghan 6-4, 6-4 to join top seeds Mark Colquitt and Ruairi Logan in the last four.
The semi-finals were more one-sided as top seed Colquitt earned a 6-1, 6-0 win over Boden, while Logan defeated Farquhar 6-2, 6-2 before the second seed went on to win the B Division final against Colquitt 6-2, 6-1.
The main draw doubles came to a thrilling conclusion as top seeds Simpson and Thom lined up against second seeds Lambert and Smith, but once again it was the Scottish players that claimed the major spoils as Simpson and Thom sealed a 7-5, 3-6, (10-4) victory after a championship tie-break.
The B Division doubles was played in a short sets format, but once again there was an exciting climax as Farquhar and Logan earned a 5-4, 5-3 win over Monaghan and Thom in the final.
During the weekend Thom was also presented with his award for named Tennis Scotland’s Disability Player of the Year for 2013. Thom ended last season by winning the men’s singles at December’s Tennis Foundation Wheelchair Tennis Development Series Finals at the National Tennis Centre in London.
11/04/14
Dalbeattie’s Keith Thom, who won the men’s singles in the National Development Series Finals in 2013, is among the entries for the 2014 Edinburgh Wheelchair Tennis Tournamen, one of two events taking place on the opening weekend of the Tennis Foundation Wheelchair Tennis Summer Development Series.
The 2011 and 2012 runner-up is due to line-up alongside two-time champion Peter Moore at Craiglockhart Tennis Centre, where main draw and second draw events offer opportunities for players across a range of ability and experience.
To download the complete Tennis Foundation Wheelchair Tennis Development Series Calendar for 2014, please click here (PDF 50 KB, opens in new window)
Download the poster for Tennis Foundation Wheelchair Tennis Development Series 2014 (PDF 2.5 MB, opens in new window)