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Glenys Furness
Andy Lapthorne at The NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters 2017 | (Photo by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images for The Tennis Foundation)

Tennis | Wheelchair Tennis | Lapthorne makes final of Victoria Open

Glenys Furness
Tennis

By Glenys Furness

  • Andy Lapthorne makes final of Victoria Open
  • Ben Bartram made the doubles semi-final
MELBOURNE, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA – Andy Lapthorne was runner up in the Quads final at the Victoria Open. The Brit was defeated by the top seed.

 

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Andy Lapthorne started his preparations for the Australian Open by entering the Victoria Open. The Brit was unseeded. In the first round the Brit was against unseeded Australian Jin Woodman. Lapthorne dominated the match from the outset. The Brit didn’t put a foot wrong as Woodman struggled with the game of the Brit. Lapthorne eased through into the next round without dropping a game 6-0, 6-0.

The semi-final saw Lapthorne against his doubles partner and second seed David Wagner. The Brit continued from where he left off last round and dominated the first set. Lapthorne broke twice to take the first set. The American re-grouped and fought back in the second, forcing a tiebreak. Wagner edged through the breaker and a deciding set was needed. Lapthorne was not hanging around. Once again the Brit dominated and moved into the final 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-1.

In the final the Brit was against the top seed Heath Davidson. Lapthorne stayed close to the Australian in the match, trying to force a tiebreak. Unfortunately, Davidson managed to secure the break of serve in each set right at the end to take the match in straight sets 7-5, 7-5.

Doubles

Ben Bartram teamed up with Tokito Oda and were the third seeds. As a result, they received a bye in the first round. Their quarter-final opponents were Heath Davidson & Robert Shaw. The Brit/Japanese pair dominated from the outset. Davidson & Shaw struggled to stay with the seeds and soon found themselves in trouble. The seeds eased through the match 6-1, 6-0.

The semi-final saw Bartram & Oda against the second seeds Joachim Gerard & Takuya Miki. The Belgian/Japanese stayed with the Brit/Japanese and forced a tiebreak in the first set. The second seeds edged through and took the lead. The second set saw the third seeds fight hard and secure a vital break of serve to level up the match. The ensuing match tiebreak was very close, but ultimately it was the second seeds that edged through to book a spot in the final 7-6(7), 5-7, 10-8.

 

 

Wheelchair Round Up

Andy Lapthorne & David Wagner were defeated by Heath Davidson & Robert Shaw in the first round 4-6, 6-4, 11-9.

Gordon Reid was defeated by Alfie Hewett in the second round 7-6(5), 6-3.

Cornelia Oosthuizen was defeated by Katharina Kruger in the first round 6-3, 6-3.

Ben Bartram was defeated by Tokito Oda in the second round 6-2, 6-1.

Lucy Shuker was defeated by Guo Luoyao in the second round 6-3, 6-4.

Alfie Hewett was defeated by Ruben Spaargaren in the quarter-final 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5.

Cornelia Oosthuizen with Emmanuelle Morch were defeated by Macarena Cabrillana & Maria Florencia Moreno in the quarter-final 1-6, 6-2, 10-4.

Lucy Shuker with Dana Mathewson were defeated by Jiske Griffioen & Momoko Ohtani in the quarter-final 6-2, 6-2.

The final build up event before the Australian Open for Wheelchair tennis players is next week in Melbourne.

 

 

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