12/02/14
John Lambert won the main draw singles and Gordon Wild claimed victory in the B Division singles at the inaugural Inside Out Tennis Loughborough Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, the first Tennis Foundation Wheelchair Tennis Development Series event of 2014.
There were impressive comebacks for David Cabrera and Marc Francis as the main draw singles got underway, with Cabrera eventually beating Idris Popat 2-4, 4-1, (10-1) after one of two deciding championship tie-breaks, while Francis won a much closer finale as he edged out Jack Pegram 1-4, 4-0, [10-8) to reach the quarter-finals.
Surrey’s Cabrera went on to dent the local East Midlands hopes after defeating fourth seed James Shaw 4-2, 4-1, while Scotland’s Keith Thom beat Shropshire top seed Scott Smith 4-2, 4-2 in his quarter-final. Four different regions of Britain were represented in the semi-finals after West Midlands-based second seed Lambert beat Francis 4-0, 4-0 and third Glen Gent beat fellow East Midlands player Robert Ghahremani 4-0, 4-0.
Lambert went on to drop just two games to Cabrera in the last four and completed his victory with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Thom, who was the winner of the men’s singles at the 2013 National Development Series Finals in December.
Craig Nicholson clinched victory in the main draw consolation after a thrilling conclusion to his final play-off against Pegram, with the Shropshire-based player sealing victory 0-6, 6-4, (10-6) after another championship tie-break.
While Thom finished runner-up in the main draw singles, Wiltshire’s Lynn Broughton, winner of the women’s singles at December’s National Development Series Finals, finished runner-up in the B Division singles.
Broughton kept her ambitions for another tournament win alive after battling back to beat Mark Esho 1-4, 4-0, (10-5) in their round-robin match, while also beating Kevin Ward without dropping a game. However, Wild went on to secure a 4-1, 4-2 win over Broughton to complete the round-robin phase of the event unbeaten after also beating Esho 4-1, 4-2 and defeating Ward 4-0, 4-0.
With Wild and Broughton finishing in the top two positions after the round-robin matches they went forward to contest the B Division final, with Wild sealing victory with a 6-2, 6-0 win this time. Esho claimed third place in a tight contest against Ward, eventually prevailing 5-4(6), 5-3.
Ghahremani and Nicholson won another exciting contest to reach the main draw doubles final after earning a 4-5(8), 4-1, [10-9) win over Popat and Shaw. Lambert and Smith claimed their place in the final after beating Cabrera and Thom 6-4, 6-2 and Lambert went on to win his second title of the weekend as the top seeds eased past Ghahremani and Nicholson 6-2, 6-0.
Francis and Pegram won the main draw doubles consolation event after a sensational 7-5, 6-7, (10-6) win over Popat and Shaw.
Victory in the B Division Doubles went to Broughton and Esho after their 5-3, 4-2 win over Ward and Wild.
Local East Midlands two-time Paralympian and current British No. 3 David Phillipson visited the tournament to inspire the players and present the awards to the winners and runners-up.
View the final draws here (PDF, opens in new window).
05/02/14
Seventeen players are set to contest the Inside Out Tennis Loughborough Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, the first Tennis Foundation Development Series event of 2014.
The entries include Keith Thom and Lynn Broughton, winners of the inaugural National Development Series Finals in December 2013.
Scotland’s Thom is one of 12 players entered for the main draw singles, alongside the likes of Shropshire’s Scott Smith, a former winner of the men’s singles at the National Championships, and the more experienced John Lambert.
There will also be a significant local East Midlands entry that includes Glen Gent, Robert Ghahremani, James Shaw and Idris Popat.
Wiltshire's Broughton is one of five players who will contest the B Division singles at the Dan Maskell Tennis Centre on the University of Loughborough campus after ending 2013 by winning the women’s singles at the National Development Series Finals at the National Tennis Centre in London in December.