Louise Hunt is targeting the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Doubles Masters in November after claiming her sixth doubles title of 2014 on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina over the weekend.
It’s been a busy three weeks for Wanborough’s British No. 3, who was on hand to promote her sport and help inspire others at the recent National Paralympic Day celebrations in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, where she had the opportunity to meet His Royal Highness The Earl of Wessex. Hunt then visited the US Open in New York before heading to last week’s PTR Championships, where she paired up with American Emmy Kaiser to win the women’s doubles.
The second seeds beat two North American-South American partnerships en route to the final, defeating the USA’s Dana Mathewson and Colombia’s Johana Martinez 6-2, 6-2 in their quarter-final before easing past American Shelby Baron and Chile’s Macarena Cabrillana 6-1, 6-1 in the last four. But it was in the final that Hunt and Kaiser really excelled, overcoming the top seeds, Hunt’s fellow Brit Lucy Shuker and Chile’s Francisca Mardones 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
"I am so excited to win this tournament with Emmy, it's been a while since we played together so it's a really good win for us, especially as we were second seeds. We played so well as a team and hope to play with her again soon," said Hunt after collecting her second doubles title in South Carolina, having partnered Shuker to victory in 2011. She has climbed one place to No. 12 in this week’s women’s doubles world rankings.
With Hunt and Shuker being two of four Brits on the Tennis Foundation’s Wheelchair Tennis Performance Programme vying for titles on Hilton Head, world No. 10 Shuker ended Hunt’s women’s singles challenge in the first round. While Shuker went on to claim the title, Hunt advanced to the women’s consolation singles final before bowing out 6-4, 6-1 to Brazil’s Natalia Mayara and she now enters a training block for the coming weeks before hoping to be line up for the Doubles Masters for the third successive year.
“I’ve entered with Katharina Kruger from Germany, we will find out at the end of the month if we’ve qualify for the field of six pairings in California, but I hope it will give us another opportunity to pair up after winning three of our previous six tournaments,” said Hunt. “We’ve already won the Desert Classic in Arizona together this year, so the USA is turning into a successful destination for me this season.
“I am really looking forward to this training block ahead and getting in some quality time with my team before my next block of tournaments. I would also like to say a special thank you to all of my team for their support this year, in particular DC Injury Clinic for keeping me in good shape.”