David Phillipson relishing World Team Cup challenge after successful return
BINGHAM'S David Phillipson has made an encouraging seasonal debut on the international wheelchair tennis circuit, reaching the men's singles and doubles finals at the Open de Vendee in France ahead of making his latest BNP Paribas World Team Cup appearance for Great Britain next week in the Netherlands.
British No.3 and world No.19 Phillipson faced four French players in the men's singles, following up a 6-0, 6-1 win over Laurent Everaert with successive 7-5, 6-4 victories over Nicolas Vanlerberghe and two-time ITF World Champion and former world No.1 Laurent Giammartini.
Phillipson faced world No.9 Nicolas Peifer in the final, but Peifer brought the Nottinghamshire player's winning sequence to an end as he sealed the title 7-5, 6-3.
"It's great to back on court and although I'm not too pleased with the final I know what to work on and if I can push Nicolas that close in my first tournament back then it does bode well for the future," said Phillipson, who also partnered fellow Brit Ed Holt to the final of the men's doubles.
Second seeds Phillipson and Holt earned straight sets wins over Belgium's Roland de Meersman and Gert Vos and French duo David Dalmasso and Gaetan Menguy before Giammartini and Peifer too claimed the final 6-2, 6-2.
"All in all it's a good comeback and with Nicolas being a top ten ranked player and an integral part of the French teams that have won the men's World Group at the World Team Cup over the last few years I'm feeling positive going into this year's event," added Phillipson.
"I love representing my country, whether it be the Paralympics or the World Team Cup and after narrowly missing out on last year's semi-finals hopefully we will be in the hunt for the medals this time."
Phillipson has again been selected by the Tennis Foundation to play alongside British No.1 Gordon Reid and British No.2 Marc McCarroll at the 2014 World Team Cup, which takes place in Alphen from May 26 until June 1.