Bingham’s David Phillipson claimed his first NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour men’s singles title since August 2010 on Sunday when he won the Open Internacional Ciudad de A Coruña in Spain to complete his tournament preparation before next week’s BNP Paribas World Team Cup in Antalya, Turkey, which takes place from the 20-26 May.
After finishing runner-up in the Sheffield Wheelchair Tennis Tournament in March and the Israel Open at the end of last month, Phillipson justified top seeding in Spain to take his career tally of men’s singles titles to six.
Phillipson, who has moved up one place in this week’s men’s singles world rankings to No. 18, just one place behind British No. 2 Marc McCarroll, was one of only four non-Spanish players in the men’s draw and faced opponents from the host nation all the way through the tournament. He beat Martin de la Puente 6-2, 6-0 in his opening match and his doubles partner Daniel Prada 6-0, 6-0 In the quarter-finals. Phillipson went on to beat third seed Roberto Chamizo 6-2, 6-4 in the semi-finals before completing his victory with a 6-3, 6-2 win over second seed Martin Varela.
“After reaching two finals and being beaten in two close three set matches in both this year it’s nice to finally get another title under my belt,” said Phillipson. “It got tougher as the tournament went on, as I’d expect, but I’m happy with the week and can look forward with confidence to the World Team Cup now.”
Due to Phillipson's top 30 doubles ranking, he and Prada were installed as top seeds for the men's doubles, but bowed out early against de la Puente and Felix Garcia 6-4, 1-6, (12-10) after a match tie-break.
Phillipson will line-up alongside fellow London 2012 Paralympians Gordon Reid and Marc McCarroll in the Great Britain team contesting the men’s World Group at this year’s BNP Paribas World Team Cup. The last time the Davis-Cup style event was held in Antalya in 2010, the same three players from the Tennis Foundation's Wheelchair Tennis Performance Programme were part of the Great Britain team that reached the semi-finals.
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