22/02/14
British players claimed five out of the six singles main draw singles and doubles and titles at the USN Bolton Arena Indoor Wheelchair Tennis Tournament after Gordon Reid and Jamie Burdekin won the men’s singles and quad singles finals today with Dutch top seed Aniek van Koot beating Britain’s Lucy Shuker in the women’s singles final.
As the second international wheelchair tennis tournament in successive weeks supported by the Tennis Foundation and sponsored by TBS Sports came to an end, Reid and Burdekin completed the ITF 2 Series event with singles and doubles titles, while Shuker partnered Jordanne Whiley to win the women’s doubles on Friday’s penultimate day of play.
World No. 3 and top seed Reid won the first three games and the last three games of the opening set of his all-British men’s singles final against 16-year-old third seed Alfie Hewett. Reid then dropped just the second game of the second set as he closed out a 6-2, 6-1 victory to repeat his win over world No. 1 junior Hewett in the final of the ITF 2 Series North East Tournament in Sunderland in 2013.
“I’m delighted to win today, it was a high quality match and Alfie is an up and coming player and improving all the time,” said Reid. “I tried out a few different things this week and some worked and some didn’t, but I played well at the right times, so it’s a good way to go enter a training block ahead of going to the USA next month.”
Burdekin claimed back-to-back quad singles titles as he followed up his victory at the North West Challenge last week with a 6-2, 6-0 win over fellow Brit Adam Field. Field made a bright start after reaching the final following a victory over Italian fourth seed earlier in the week, but Burdekin came from 2-0 down and won 12 games in a row to complete victory.
“I’m very happy to win both titles in the North West,” said Burdekin, who moved up one place to No. 7 in the quad singles world rankings earlier this week after his North West Challenge victory. “It was a bit of a slow start for me today, but I’m really pleased to reel off the last 12 games and it’s onwards and upwards from here.”
Third seed Shuker came from behind in the first set of the women’s singles final to lead van Koot 5-4. However, the Dutch world No. 4 won the last five points of the first set tie-break and the last four games of the second set to complete a 7-6(2), 6-3 win in her first tournament since winning September’s US Open Grand Slam.
Top seeds Hewett and Reid powered into the men’s doubles final for the loss of just one game, while second seeds Marc McCarroll and Sweden’s Stefan Olsson dropped just three games across their two matches to also reach the final. However, a shoulder injury meant that Olsson was unable to play the final, handing a walkover to Hewett and Reid.
London 2012 bronze medallists Shuker and Jordanne Whiley beat third seeds Louise Hunt and Lauren Jones 6-1, 6-1 in their all-British women’s doubles semi-final, but German second seeds Kruger and Bianca Osterer were unable to play the final, giving Shuker and Whiley another title to add to their list of successes
Burdekin claimed his second USN Bolton Arena Indoor title in the quad doubles as he partnered Ryan Macdonald to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Richard Green and Ian Payne in the last all-British final of the tournament.
21/02/14
There will be two all-British singles finals on Saturday’s last day of the ITF 2 Series USN Bolton Arena Indoor after Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewett reached the men’s singles final and Jamie Burdekin and Adam Field booked their places in the quad singles final.
Lucy Shuker also beat fellow Brit Jordanne Whiley to book her place in the women’s final against Dutch top seed Aniek van Koot, while top seeds Hewett and Reid claimed the men’s doubles title and London 2012 bronze medallists Shuker and Whiley ended the women’s doubles with another title to add to their list of successes.
Third seed Hewett reached his second ITF 2 Series men’s singles final in the last 12 months after beating British No. 2 Marc McCarroll for the third time. Hewett beat second seed McCarroll 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 in their semi-final to repeat his win over McCarroll to reach the final of the North East Wheelchair Tennis Tournament in Sunderland in 2013. Hewett will now play top seed Reid in a rematch of last year’s final in Sunderland after world No. 3 Reid eased through his Bolton Indoor semi-final against fourth seed Thomas Vinatier of France 6-1, 6-2.
World No. 7 Burdekin remains on course for back-to-back titles at Britain’s first two international tournaments of 2013. Last week’s North West Challenge champion was leading world No. 3 and top seed Andy Lapthorne 3-6, 6-4, 3-2 in their all-British semi-final when Lapthorne had to retire due to illness. Burdekin will play fellow Brit Field after Field followed up his quarter-final victory over fourth seed Antonio Raffaele with another win over Italian opposition, as he edged out Alfredo di Cosmo 6-4, 7-6(4).
World No. 8 and third seed Shuker earned a 6-3, 6-2 win over second seed Whiley, beating the world No. 6 ahead of facing world No. 4 van Koot in Saturday’s final, with van Koot having beaten German fourth seed Katharina Kruger by the same 6-3, 6-2 score.
Top seeds Hewett and Reid powered past South African fourth seeds Leon Els and Marshall Marsh 6-0, 6-0 in their doubles semi-final, while second seeds McCarroll and Sweden’s Stefan Olsson eased to a 6-1, 6-0 victory over third seeds Laszlo Farkas of Hungary and Yoann Quilliou of France. Hewett and Reid were awarded their second ITF 2 Series doubles title together after a walkover in the final.
Top seeds Shuker and Whiley beat third seeds Louise Hunt and Lauren Jones 6-1, 6-1 in their all-British women’s doubles semi-final, with German second seeds Kruger and Bianca Osterer defeating French fourth seeds Pauline Helouin and Christine Schoenn 6-2, 6-1. Shuker and Whiley had a walkover in the final.
There will be an all-British quad doubles final to bring the tournament to a close on Saturday after Burdekin and Ryan Macdonald beat Italian second seeds Alfredo di Cosmo and Antonio Raffaele 6-1, 6-3. Burdekin and Macdonald will play Richard Green and Ian Payne in the final after Green and Payne had a semi-final walkover following Lapthorne’s earlier retirement in his singles semi-final.
20/02/14
A British player is guaranteed to be in the men’s, women’s and quad singles finals after a fascinating day of quarter-finals in Bolton during which two seeds exited the quad singles and all four seeded players advanced to the men’s and women’s singles semi-finals.
Top seed Gordon Reid held off a determined challenge from Sweden’s former world No. 2 Stefan Olsson. World No. 3 Reid prevailed 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 and will play fourth seed Thomas Vinatier of France in the men’s semi-finals. Vinatier avenged his semi-final loss to Hungary’s Laszlo Farkas at the North West Challenge, beating sixth seed Farkas 6-3, 6-3 in the last eight in Bolton.
Second seed Marc McCarroll and third seed Alfie Hewett will be in the other all-British semi-final after McCarroll beat fifth seed Yoann Quilliou of France 6-2, 6-2, while Hewett powered past Russian eighth seed Leonid Shevhik 6-0, 6-0.
Adam Field and Italy’s Alfedo Di Cosmo produced the outstanding results of the day in the quad singles as both beat seeded opposition. Field produced one of the best wins of his career as he saw off Italian fourth seed and world No. 9 Antonio Raffaele, but Italian fortunes improved in the other quarter-final in the bottom half of the draw as di Cosmo edged out British second seed Antony Cotterill 7-6(2), 7-6(4).
The quad singles also features an all-British semi-final after top seed Andy Lapthorne began his campaign with a 6-3, 6-3 win over fellow Brit Ryan Macdonald. Meanwhile, third seed and North West Challenge winner Jamie Burdekin began his bid for back-to-back titles with 6-4, 6-0 victory over Sweden’s Anders Hard.
Third seed Lucy Shuker fought back from a set down to reach the last four of the women’s singles, recovering for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over German fifth seed Bianca Osterer. Shuker now has an all-British semi-final against second seed Jordanne Whiley, who eased through her quarter-final against French sixth seed Charlotte Famin 6-1, 6-1.
Dutch top seed Aniek van Koot and fourth seed Katharina Kruger of Germany will contest the other women’s semi-final. World No. 4 van Koot beat British eighth seed Louise Hunt 6-0, 6-3, while Kruger secured a 6-4, 6-1 win over seventh seed Christine Schoenn of France.
19/02/14
Top seed Gordon Reid faces a potentially tough quarter-final on Thursday’s second day of play in Bolton after Sweden’s former world No. 2 Stefan Olsson was the only men’s singles player to win two matches on the opening day of competition.
On a day when all the singles quarter-finalists were decided, Britain’s top three seeded players eased into the last eight of the men’s singles, with world No. 3 Reid beating Italy’s Luca Spano 6-2, 6-0, while second seed Marc McCarroll celebrated his birthday with a 6-3, 6-0 win over fellow Brit Ed Holt and Alfie Hewett defeated Israel’s Asaaf Stokol 6-0, 6-2.
Olsson won his first two competitive matches since last June for the loss of just one game, that coming against seventh seed Leon Els of South Africa in their second round match. Fifth seed Yoann Quilliou of France won through to meet McCarroll and eighth seed Leonid Shevchik of Russia earned a quarter-final against Hewett.
British No. 2 Lucy Shuker and British No. 3 Louise Hunt beat Emilie Chene of France and Thondalwethu Hlatswayo of South Africa, respectively, withouth dropping a single game, while second seed jordanne Whiley opened her bid for back-to-back titles by defeating Colombia’s Johana Martinez 6-2, 6-0.
The closest of the day’s women’s matches ended with sixth seed Charlotte Famin of France earning a 6-4, 6-3 win against Russia’s Ludmila Bubnova to book a quarter-final against Whiley, with fourth seed Katharina Kruger and fifth seed Bianca Osterer ensuring Germany have two quarter-finalists after comfortable straight sets wins. Kruger will play French seventh seed Christine Schoenn of France for a place in the semi-finals, while Oster will face Shuker. Hunt will meet Dutch top seed Aniek van Koot after the world No. 4 made her seasonal debut with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Pauline Helouin of France.
The longest match of the day came in the quad singles as Brit Adam Field edged past South Africa’s Bongani Dlamini 6-2 4-6 6-1. Field will be one of five Brits in the quarter-finals alongside Ryan Macdonald and seeded players Andy Lapthorne, Antony Cotterill and Jamie Burdekin. Macdonald made a winning start to his quad singles career after coming through his all-British contest against Jame Shaw 6-3, 6-1 to set up a meeting with Lapthorne. Burdekin will meet Sweden’s Anders Hard for a place in the last four after Sweden’s former world No. 5 defeated Brit Richard Green 6-4, 6-2.
The quarter-final line-up is completed by Italians Antonio Raffaele and Alfredo di Cosmo, with fourth seed Raffaele being the only one of the seeded players in the quad singles in action on the opening day as he eased past Britain’s Laura Swetman 6-0, 6-0. Di Cosmo also beat British opposition, overcoming Ian Payne 6-1, 7-6(1) and now faces second seed Cotterill.
13/02/14
Five London 2012 Paralympic Games medallists, including Britain’s Jordanne Whiley, Lucy Shuker and Andy Lapthorne and Aniek van Koot of the Netherlands are among nine world top 10 ranked singles players set to contest the inaugural USN Bolton Arena Indoor Wheelchair Tennis Tournament on 19 - 22 February.
Over 60 players from 13 countries are due to line up for Britain’s second ITF Wheelchair Tennis Tour event of the year as the sport features in the North West for the second successive week following the North West Challenge at South Ribble Tennis Centre on 13 - 16 February.
Supported by the Tennis Foundation and sponsored by TBS Sports, the ITF 2 Series USN Bolton Arena Indoor will see Britain’s top three ranked players head the entries for the men’s singles. They include world No. 3 Gordon Reid, who started 2014 in fine form after the Scot won the first Super Series title of his career at the Sydney International Open in January before going on to reach his second Grand Slam doubles final at the Australian Open.
British No. 2 Marc McCarroll and world No. 1 ranked junior Alfie Hewett, who won his third successive Cruyff Foundation Junior Masters singles and doubles titles at the end of January, boost the home challenge. Frenchmen Thomas Vinatier and Yoann Quilliou and Hungary’s Laszlo Farkas head the top ranked overseas players, who also include London 2012 men’s doubles gold medallist and former world No. 2 Stefan Olsson of Sweden.
Whiley recently became the first British woman to win a Grand Slam wheelchair tennis title after being victorious in the women’s doubles at the Australian Open. The world No. 6 and world No. 8 Shuker, bronze medallists together In the women’s doubles at London 2012, are among four world top 10 ranked women’s players among the entries in Bolton, alongside current world No. 4 and 2013 ITF Wheelchair World Champion van Koot as well as Germany’s world No. 10 Katharina Kruger.
“It’s very exciting to have a new ITF 2 Series tournament in Britain and I’m really looking forward to playing in Bolton and trying to defend world ranking points I won this time last year,” said Whiley. “It will be my second tournament in Britain after my success in Australia and I’ll be doing my best to maintain my good start to the year.”
Van Koot is set to make her seasonal reappearance in Bolton after the London 2012 women’s singles and doubles silver medallist and 2013 Australian Open and US Open champion was forced to end her 2013 season in the autumn due to injury. She still ended the year as the world No. 1 ranked player, a position she kept until after not being able to defend her Australian Open title last month.
Whiley was one of two Brits to win Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open as world No. 3 Lapthorne claimed his third quad doubles title and the London 2012 silver medallist will make his first competitive appearance since his success at Melbourne Park. Lapthorne is one of three world top 10 ranked Brits in the field for the quad singles, alongside world No. 7 Antony Cotterill and world No. 8 Jamie Burdekin. Italy’s world No. 9 Antonio Raffaele and Sweden’s Anders Hard are likely to provide the chief overseas challenge to the top three ranked Brits.
"I’m delighted that we can bring world class wheelchair tennis to Bolton Arana for the first time and we are all thrilled with the high quality field and the wide spread of countries that will feature during what should be a highly exciting five days of top class sport,” said Tournament Director Tony Knappett.