For the second year in succession British No. 2 Jordanne Whiley has beaten world top 10 ranked opposition at the 22nd British open Wheelchair Tennis Championships, part of the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour, defeating world No. 7 and fifth seed Annick Sevenans of Belgium 6-3, 6-2 in Wednesday’s second round of the women’s singles.
This week’s world No. 11, Whiley will play Dutch world No. 1 and defending champion Esther Vergeer in Thursday’s quarter-finals, meaning that she has the toughest of tasks to match her semi-final berth in 2010.
Vergeer opened her bid for an eleventh successive British Open title by beating South Africa’s Kgothatso Montjane 6-1, 6-1 on Wednesday, taking her remarkable winning streak to 419 matches since her last loss at the end of January 2003.
“I thought I played really well and was really intense. I’ve not been having a great time on court recently, but today I just upped my intensity and my game came with it, so I’m really happy,” said Whiley. “I’ve got nothing to lose against Esther, so I’m just going to go all out and enjoy it because there’s not really any pressure on me.”
Whiley and Vergeer are joined in the last eight of the women’s singles by British No. 1 and world No. 8 Lucy Shuker, who followed up her first round by with a comfortable 6-1, 6-0 victory over British No. 3 Louise Hunt.
Sevenans was not the only seed to exit the women’s singles on Wednesday, with Japan’s Kanako Domori also defeating German eighth seed Katharina Kruger 6-4, 6-3.
The second round action in the quad singles saw Britain’s Peter Norfolk, Andrew Lapthorne and Jamie Burdekin progress to the last eight of their event following comfortable victories. After a first round bye, two-time Paralympic champion and world No. 2 Norfolk began his bid for a fifth British Open title by defeating fellow Briton John Parfitt 6-1, 6-0 to earn a tough quarter-final match against former British Open Champion Shraga Weinberg.
Third seed Lapthorne secured a 6-4, 6-0 win over another former British Open champion, Bas van Erp of the Netherlands, on Wednesday and now takes on sixth seed Sarah Hunter of Canada as he bids to reach the British Open semi-finals for the first time
Along with Norfolk, seventh seed Burdekin also defeated another fellow Briton as he secured a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Antony Cotterill, with American world No. 6 Nick Taylor awaiting Burdekin in the last eight.
British interest in the men’s main draw singles came to an end on Wednesday after British No. 1 Gordon Reid slipped to a 4-6, 1-6 loss to Dutch world No. 6 Ronald Vink. Reid also lost to Vink in the quarter-finals of last year’s British Open and was unable to repeat his first career win over the Dutchman at last month’s French Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships.
Meanwhile, after reaching the men’s main draw singles second round at the British Open for the first time, British No. 3 Marc McCarroll also had his progress halted when he lost 1-6, 1-6 to Swedish sixth seed Stefan Olsson.
There was an upset in the men's singles on Wednesday as world No. 8 Satoshi Saida was knocked out by his compatriot Takashi Sanada. Sanada, who defeated Nottinghamshire's British No. 2 David Phillipson on Tuesday, booked his place in the last eight of the men's singles after beating Saida 6-4, 7-6(4).
The doubles events began on Wednesday, with McCarroll and Reid progressing to the men’s doubles quarter-finals along with fellow Briton Alex Jewitt and his French partner Lahcen Majdi. Shuker and Whiley, third seeds for the women’ doubles, begin on Thursday.
The 22nd British Open is supported by Nottingham City Council and Highland Spring and entry is free to all spectators throughout the tournament.