Shingo Kunieda won his fifth British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships men’s singles titles as the fifth Super Series event of the year drew to a close on Sunday at Nottingham Tennis Centre, with Great Britain’s Gordon Reid finishing runner-up to the Japanese world No.1 for the second time since 2012.
Kunieda commanded the opening set and although world No.3 Reid came from 5-1 down to have a game point that would have made it 5-4 in the second set, the top seed held on to add to his previous titles in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2012 with a 6-1 6-3 triumph.
“I’m very happy to win here for the fifth time. I served well today and returned well and I felt like I could control everything, so it was a very good match for me,” said Kunieda.
Reid had been chasing his second Super Series title of the year after beating Kunieda in the semi-finals of the Sydney International in January before going on to win that title.
“It’s a dream to win my home Super Series, but Shingo’s been the best payer all week and he was the better player today, so congratulations to him, he played a great match,” said Reid.
There was home success in the East Midlands as Jamie Burdekin partnered the USA’s world No.1 David Wagner to win the quad doubles title with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Australia’s quad singles champion Dylan Alcott and last year’s quad singles champion Lucas Sithole of South Africa.
“It is always important to do well here. This is our backyard, I have family down here supporting me and this is one of the tournaments we all really want to do well at as a Tennis Foundation organised event," said Burdekin after he and Wagner dropped just the first game of the second set to give the Brit his second Super Series doubles title after victory at the Japan Open in 2012.
"David is a great player and I’ve always respected his game, especially his doubles, as a three-time Paralympic gold medallist, so I was proud to be on court with him,” added Burdekin.
London 2012 bronze medallists Lucy Shuker and Jordanne Whiley’s bid to add further British success ended with a narrow defeat in the women’s doubles final. Second seeds Shuker and Whiley led in both the first and second sets, but top seeds Yui Kamiji of Japan and Aniek van Koot of the Netherlands sealed a 7-5, 6-4 victory, with Kamiji ending the tournament as both women’s singles and women’s doubles champion.
It’s been a fantastic July for Kamiji, who started the month by winning the Wimbledon title alongside Whiley.
“I don’t think we could have done any more today apart from win, we played a good match, but they just won the important points on the day,” said Whiley.
The British Open is one of six events to have Super Series status, the highest tier of tournament on the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour, outside of the Grand Slams.
Organised by the Tennis Foundation, the British Open has been a crucial tournament for the world’s leading men’s, women’s and quad players aiming to gain enough ranking points to qualify for the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters, the year-end singles championship, which takes places at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, on 26 – 30 November.
For more information about the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters visit www.wheelchairtennismasters.com.
25TH BRITISH OPEN FINALS RESULTS:
Men's singles
[1] S Kunieda (JPN) d [3] G Reid (GBR) 6-1 6-3
Women's singles
[1] Y Kamiji (JPN) d [2] A van Koot (NED) 6-3 2-6 6-4
Quad singles
[4] D Alcott (AUS) d [3] A Lapthorne (GBR) 7-5 6-1
Men's doubles
[1] J Gerard (BEL)/M Scheffers (NED) d [4] G Fernandez (ARG)/N Peifer (FRA) 2-6 6-3 6-1
Women's doubles
[1] Y Kamiji (JPN)/A van Koot (NED) d [2] L Shuker (GBR)/J Whiley (GBR) 7-5 6-4
Quad doubles
[2] D Wagner (USA)/J Burdekin (GBR) d [4] D Alcott (AUS)/ L Sithole (RSA) 6-0 6-1
Mixed doubles
[1] M McCarroll (GBR)/J Whiley (GBR) d D Bailey (GBR)/L Esperanza Merry (GBR) 6-1 6-3