21/06/14
Great Britain finished the 6th INAS World Tennis Championships with two gold medals and a silver medal after Fabrice Higgins won the men’s singles final and partnered singles silver medallist Tom Mellor to gold in the men’s doubles, with Peter Millar and Shain Lewis finishing fourth and sixth in the men’s singles, respectively, as well as just missing out on the bronze medal and finishing fourth together in the men’s doubles.
Higgins became a doubles men’s singles world champion and Mellor a double world championships silver medallist after Higgins won their all-British men’s singles final 6-0, 6-0, repeating their placings at the 5th Inas World Tennis Championships in the Czech Republic in 2013.
After winning the men’s consolation event in 2013 Millar was edged out of bronze medal position in the main draw this time by the Czech Republic’s Ondrej Sedlisky, the men’s singles gold medallist at the 2011 Inas Global Games. Lewis beat his American opponent 6-3 in the first of his play-off matches to give himself the chance of playing for fifth place. Ultimately finishing sixth again meant the Welshman made an improvement on his final placing in 2013.
Higgins and Mellor also won a second successive men’s doubles gold medal for Great Britain, following up the gold medal that Higgins and Millar won in the Czech Republic. It was also a second world championships gold medal for Mellor, who won gold in the Team Event with Higgins in 2013. There was no Team Event in France. Higgins and Mellor shared the doubles podium with Czech Republic players after Lewis and Millar were narrowly edged out 7-5 in the bronze medal match.
Having finished fourth and sixth in the men’s singles and fourth in the men’s doubles, Millar and Lewis ended the world championships on a high after being presented with the event’s Fair Play Award.
The Inas World Tennis Championships are part of a high performance elite pathway for players with learning disability. Players from Great Britain access the Inas pathway through the strong collaboration between the Tennis Foundation and the UK Sports Association (UKSA), the official Great Britain member of Inas.
Geoff Newton, Executive Director of the Tennis Foundation, said: “We’re very proud of the achievements of all four GB players and coaches Lesley Whitehead and David Hardman and at the Inas World Tennis Championships in France. Until last year’s World Championships Great Britain had never won a tennis medal in a major Inas event and following these latest successes we are very excited for the future and for working with UKSA in the preparations for the Inas Global Games in 2015.”
UKSA Chief Executive, Tracey McCillen, said: “I’m thrilled with the success of the GB team at the Inas World Tennis Championships, two gold medals and a silver is a fantastic medal haul, and is testament of the benefits of the collaborative approach taken by UKSA and the Tennis Foundation for these championships.”
The 6th Inas World Tennis Championships came just over a year ahead of the 4th Inas Global Games in Guayaquil, Ecuador in September 2015.
20/06/14
For the second Inas World Tennis Championships in succession there will be an all-British men’s singles final after Fabrice Higgins beat fellow Brit Peter Millar 6-0 on the third day of play, with Tom Mellor also edging to victory in his semi-final.
Higgins and Mellor will also contest the men's doubles final, with Shain Lewis and Millar to play for the doubles bronze medal.
Higgins and Mellor won the gold and silver medals respectively at the 5th Inas World Tennis Championships in June 2013 and Mellor defeated the Czech Republic’s Ondrej Sedlisky 7-6 (8-6) in the last four this year to guarantee that both medals will come back to Britain once again. Millar will aim to secure a place on the podium for all three Brits when he plays Sedlisky for the bronze medal. Shain Lewis will go on to the play-offs for 5th-8th places.
After finishing undefeated at the top of their men's doubles round-robin group, with two wins from their two matches against Czech and American opponents, Higgins and Mellor went on to face Lewis and Mellor, the runners-up in their round-robin group after one win and one loss, in the semi-finals. Higgins and Mellor reached the final after a 6-0 win, with both British pairings set to play for doubles medals on the last day of play.
19/06/14
Fabrice Higgins, Thomas Mellor and Peter Millar all reached the men’s singles semi-finals after the first two days of play in France to guarantee that there will be a British finalist in the event for the second successive year. Meanwhile, the partnerships of Higgins and Mellor and Shain Lewis and Millar moved into the men’s doubles semi-finals.
The four Brits were each drawn in one of the four groups of three players for the round-robin phase of the singles, alongside American, Belgian, Czech, Polish competitors. Higgins beat his American and Czech opponents to finish top of his group, while Mellor defeated his Belgian and Czech opponents to also top his group.
Millar and Lewis both finished second in their round-robin group as all four Brits advanced to the knock-out phase of the men’s singles before Millar won two matches on Thursday’s second day, dropping just four games, to set up his semi-final against Higgins.
Higgins, the top seed and 2013 gold medallist Higgins, swept past Poland’s Piotr Tomaszewski 6-0, after his bye into the quarter-finals. Second seed Mellor also had a bye into the last eight before earning another 6-0 victory.
However, having earned a 6-0 victory in his first match in the knock-out phase, Lewis bowed out to the Czech Republic’s Ondrej Sedlisky in the quarter-finals, with Sedlisky going on to play Britain’s Mellor, the 2013 silver medallist, in the semi-finals.
16/06/14
The Tennis Foundation, in partnership with the UK Sports Association for People with Learning Disability (UKSA), has named a four-strong squad of players for the 6th Inas World Tennis Championships, which takes place in Mont De Marsan, France, from 17th to 22nd June.
The four players are:
Fabrice Higgins (Chorley, Lancashire)
Thomas Mellor (Cheltenham, Gloucestershire)
Peter Millar (Birkenhead, Wirral)
Shain Lewis (Builth Wells, Powys)
This is the same quartet of players that returned from the 5th Inas World Tennis Championships in the Czech Republic in June 2013 with a haul of three gold medals and a silver medal.
It was the first time that British players have won medals at the Inas World Tennis Championships, which are part of a high performance elite pathway for players with learning disability.
Players from Great Britain access the Inas pathway through the strong collaboration between the Tennis Foundation and the UK Sports Association (UKSA), the official Great Britain member of Inas.
Higgins completed last June’s event in the Czech Republic as a triple world champion after winning gold in the men’s singles, men’s doubles and the Team event, with Mellor winning the silver medal in the men’s singles after a historic all-British final.
Mellor and Higgins also won gold in the Team event last summer, with Higgins winning his third gold medal alongside Millar in the men’s doubles. Millar also won the men’s consolation singles to complete a highly successful event for Great Britain.
Geoff Newton, Executive Director of the Tennis Foundation, said: “The Tennis Foundation is committed to increasing the opportunities for players of all abilities to play tennis and reach their full potential and we are delighted to partner with UKSA to show a clear performance pathway for elite learning disability athletes. After last summer’s successes in the Czech Republic we wish the athletes and coaches all the very best in France “
UKSA Chief Executive, Tracey McCillen, said: “I’m very proud of the collaboration between UKSA and the Tennis Foundation; it just goes to show how partnerships such as these can enable athletes with learning disability to achieve at the very highest level on the world’s sporting stage!”
The 6th Inas World Tennis Championships come a year ahead of the Inas Global Games, which take place in Ecuador in 2015.