19/01/14
Gordon Reid and Dutchman Maikel Scheffers retained their Melbourne Open men’s doubles title on the final day of the ITF 2 Series tournament to maintain their unbeaten record for the season as Andy Lapthorne and Lucy Shuker finished runners-up in the quad singles and women’s singles respectively.
Top seeds Reid and Scheffers followed up their Super Series victory at the Sydney International Open by claiming their second title in a week as they edged to a 7-5, 7-5 win over second seeds Gustavo Fernandez of Argentina and Michael Jeremiasz of France.
Second seed Lapthorne came incredibly close to a successful quad singles title defence before being edged out by South Africa’s world No. 2 Lucas Sithole. Top seed Sithole won Sunday’s final 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(5).
Meanwhile, after her women’s singles semi-final win over world No. 2 Sabine Ellerbrock, world No. 8 Shuker finished runner-up to world No. 3 Yui Kamiji as the Japanese second seed prevailed 6-1, 6-4.
Melbourne Open final draws (link opens in new window).
18/01/14
Andy Lapthorne and Lucy Shuker reached the quad singles and women’s singles finals as Gordon Reid moved into the men’s doubles final on the penultimate day of play in Melbourne.
World No. 3 Lapthorne ensured a victorious seasonal debut after beating Australian Dylan Alcott in his quad singles semi-final. After a bye in the last four second seed Lapthorne had match points in the second set against Alcott before eventually completing a 62 67(3) 62 win that earns him a place in the final against South African top seed Lucas Sithole. Jamie Burdekin was unable to record his second win in a week over Sithole in the other semi-final, with Sithole advancing 6-4 6-2.
World No. 8 Shuker beat a world top five ranked player for the second day in succession as she registered her first career win over German world No 2 Sabine Ellerbrock. Shuker led top seed Ellerbrock 6-2, 4-3 before Ellerbrock retired due to injury. British No. 2 Shuker will now play Japanese world No. 3 and second seed Yui Kamiji in Sunday’s final.
With the heat in Melbourne relenting, the start of the doubles events saw Reid and Dutchman Maikel Scheffers win two matches in a day as they remained on course for their second title in as many tournaments.
Top seeds Reid and Scheffers dropped their opening doubles set of the Melbourne Open, but recovered to beat Japanese duo Takuya Miki and Takashi Sanada 3-6, 6-2, (10-6) in the quarter-finals. They subsequently earned a more comfortable semi-final victory, defeating Japan’s Yoshinobu Fujimoto and Belgium’s Joachim Gerard 6-2, 6-0 and Reid and Scheffers will now face second seeds Gustavo Fernandez of Argentina and Michael Jeremiasz of France in the final.
However, Reid saw his bid for a second successive singles title of 2014 come to end in the men’s singles semi-finals. Having beaten Japan’s world No. 1 Shingo Kunieda en route to winning the first Super Series title of his career at the Sydney International Open, Reid was unable to repeat his semi-final win in Sydney and Kunieda moved on to the Melbourne final 6-3, 6-1.
Meanwhile, Burdekin and Lapthorne finished runners-up Alcott and Sithole in the quad doubles final after Alcott and Sithole won 6-1, 6-1.
Melbourne Open latest draws (link opens in new window).
17/01/14
Lucy Shuker produced the outstanding result on the second day of play in Melbourne, beating Dutch world No. 5 Marjolein Buis to reach the women’s singles semi-finals as Gordon Reid also progressed to the men’s singles semi-finals.
World No. 8 Shuker beat fourth seed Buis 7-6(2), 6-4 and will now go on to face German top seed and world No. 2 Sabine Ellerbrock in Saturday’s semi-finals.
However, Jordanne Whiley saw her women’s singles challenge come to an end after 6-1, 6-2 loss to defending champion and world No.3 Jiske Griffioen.
Reid repeated his win over world No. 10 Takuya Miki in the final of the Sydney International Open when the British No. 1 and world No. 4 won their Melbourne quarterfinal 6-2, 2-6, 6-1. Third seed Reid will now have another rematch of his Sydney semi-final when he takes on Miki’s fellow Japanese player, world No. 1 Shingo Kunieda, for a place in the final.
Due to the extreme heat in Melbourne the quad singles semi-finals and doubles matches are all scheduled to take place on Saturday’s third day of play.
Melbourne Open latest draws (link opens in new window).
16/01/14
Jamie Burdekin moved into the quad singles semi-finals as Gordon Reid, Lucy Shuker and Jordanne Whiley reached the men’s and women’s singles quarter-finals respectively on the first day of play in Melbourne.
Burdekin eased to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Australian John Savinov to set up a semi-final against South African top seed Lucas Sithole. Burdekin will now bid to beat the world No. 2 for the second time this season after edging to a thrilling win in their round-robin match at the Sydney International earlier this week.
However, Antony Cotterill slipped to a 6-1, 6-0 loss to Australian Dylan Alcott, who will now be the first opponent for Britain’s world No. 3 Andy Lapthorne as Lapthorne begins his quad singles title defence.
Third seed Reid beat Yoshinobu Fujimoto 6-2, 6-1 to book his place in the last eight of the men’s singles against Japan’s world No. 10 Takuya Miki, the player the British No. 1 and world No. 4 beat earlier this week in the men’s singles final in Sydney.
Shuker and Whiley both earned 6-1, 6-1 wins against Thailand’s Ratana Techamaneewat and Australia’s Janel Manns, respectively. Both Brits now face world top five ranked opposition, with Shuker playing fourth seed Marjolein Buis for a place in the semi-finals and Whiley taking on third seed and defending champion Jiske Griffioen.
Melbourne Open latest draws (link opens in new window).
15/01/14
World No. 3 Andy Lapthorne makes his 2014 international debut as he bids to win the quad singles at the Melbourne Open for the second successive year en route to next week’s Australian Open. Lapthorne won a four-way round-robin event in 2013, but is part of a bigger field this year that also includes fellow Brits Jamie Burdekin and Antony Cotterill and South African top seed and world No. 2 Lucas Sithole, who Burdekin beat in a final set tie-break last weekend in Sydney.
Burdekin is drawn for a possible semi-final again Sithole in Melbourne, while Lapthorne has a bye into the last four, where he will meet either Cotterill or talented Australian Dylan Alcott.
After Gordon Reid and Lucy Shuker won three Super Series titles between them earlier this week at the Sydney International Open, Reid will go to Melbourne also hoping to retain a title after he won the men’s doubles in 2013 partnering Dutchman Maikel Scheffers, the same player he partnered to win the men’s doubles titles in Sydney.
Reid became the first Brit to win a Super Series men’s singles title in Sydney and the world No. 4 could potentially meet Japan’s Takuya Miki, the player he beat in Tuesday’s Sydney final, in the Melbourne quarter-finals as he attempts to reach the final for the second successive year ahead of making his Australian Open debut.
World No. 7 Jordanne Whiley and world No. 8 Shuker will again carry British hopes in the women’s singles and doubles. Whiley faces Australian Janel Manns in the first round of the women’s singles and Shuker takes on Thailand’s Ratana Techamaneewat. Both Brits could face higher ranked Dutch opponents if they progress to the quarter-finals.
Melbourne Open draws (link opens in new window.