David Phillipson and Gordon Reid both made the most of home advantage to record upsets in the first round of the British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships at Nottingham Tennis Centre.
British No.3 Phillipson defeated world No.6 Nicolas Peifer 6-3, 7-6(7) to book his place in the last 16 while Reid came from a set down to clinch a 5-7, 6-3, 6-0 win over fifth seed Stefan Olsson from Sweden.
It was a first career win over Olsson for British No.1 Reid in five attempts and he will now face South Africa’s Sydwell Mathonsi in the second round.
“I played a lot better after that first set and I’m pleased with the win. I’ve never even taken a set off Stefan before today so to win is a great boost,” said world No.10 Reid.
“It’s my last tournament before the Paralympic Games so it’s good to get a win against someone as strong as him.”
World No.24 Phillipson had only won one of his previous nine meetings against Peifer but said: “I felt really confident against him and it’s nice to beat a player of his quality.
“I think it was just a case of getting through that second set and coming out the other side – it was really tough. A few times I wanted to finish the point off really quickly and ended up losing it which was a bit frustrating.
“I’ve been playing well recently but I knew I would have to play well because he’s a top ten player.”
Phillipson will now face Marc McCarroll after the British No.2 enjoyed an easy passage through to the second round defeating Russian youngster Artur Saitgareev 6-0, 6-1.
British No.4 Alex Jewitt was also in impressive form to beat Belgium’s Mike Denayer 6-1, 6-1 while world No.1 Stephane Houdet of France sent out a warning to the rest of the field with a 6-0, 6-1 win against Brit Dermot Bailey.
Meanwhile, in the quad division Britain’s Adam Field claimed a place in the quarter-finals after his opponent Swede Anders Hard had to retire with Field ahead in the second set 3-6, 5-1.
Field joins compatriots Andy Lapthorne and Jamie Burdekin in the last eight, after the pair received first round byes.