By Glenys Furness
- Andy Lapthorne takes quad doubles title
- Hewett & Reid take fourth consecutive doubles title
- Hewett loses out to Tokito Oda in the men’s singles title, and with it the world no. 1 spot
PARIS, FRANCE – Andy Lapthorne claimed the Quads doubles title with new partnership. Alfie Hewett & Gordon Reid claimed their fourth consecutive doubles title.
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Andy Lapthorne partnered Donald Ramphadi at the French Open. It was the first tournament together and the pair were unseeded. They were against the top seeds Sam Schroder & Neils Vink in the first match. The Dutch pair got off to a better start and managed to break serve in the first set. The second set saw the scratch partnership stay with the top seeds, and break to level the match. In the ensuing match tiebreak the Brit / South African edged the lead and held on to claim the win 4-6, 6-4, 10-6.
In the final Lapthorne & Ramphadi were against the second seeds Heath Davidson & Robert Shaw. The top seeds dominated the first set and took the lead. However, the second set saw Lapthorne & Ramphadi reverse the situation of the previous set, dominating the seeds to level up the match. The match tiebreak had everything on the line. Lapthorne & Ramphadi eased through and took the win 1-6, 6-2, 10-3.
Lapthorne said after the match: “(It’s) amazing. Donald’s first Slam win on his birthday. A new partnership, a whole different vibe and he’s a great guy to play with, a great guy to be around. I was just trying to be solid in the 10-point breaker. I hate those things. But he stepped up and won it for us. All credit to him.”
Men’s Doubles
Alfie Hewett & Gordon Reid were aiming for their fourth consecutive French Open title together. The Brits were the top seeds. In the quarter-final the Brits were against Frederic Cattaneo & Casey Ratzlaff. The top seeds dominated in the first set and soon had the lead. The second was closer as Cattaneo & Ratzlaff started to find their game. However, just as it looked to be heading to a tiebreak Hewett & Reid secured the break of serve needed to move into the next round 6-2, 7-5.
The semi-final saw the Brits against Joachim Gerard & Tokito Oda. The top seeds had little trouble with the Belgian/Japanese pairing and dominated the first set. Gerard & Oda struggled to stay with Hewett & Reid and found the second set just the same. The Brits progressed to the final in straight sets 6-2, 6-2.
In the final Hewett & Reid were against second seeds Martin De La Puente & Gustavo Fernandez. The first set was incredibly tight, as neither pair were willing to give an inch. Ultimately it went to a tiebreak which the Brits edged and had the lead. The second set was more of the same, and again was very close. It looked like it would be heading to a tiebreak again, but the Brits secured the vital break of serve to take the title in straight sets and their fourth consecutive doubles title in Paris 7-6(11), 7-5.
Speaking after the match Reid, now a 23-time Grand Slam champion said: “It was a great level of tennis today. The first set could have gone either way. All the hard work, this is what it’s for. It means everything to us to play in an atmosphere (like this) and feel like the crowd are into the match. That’s why we love it and that’s why we do what we do.”
Hewett, who has one more Grand Slam title to his name added
“I just want to thank our team that help us day in and day out to be able to play this sort of tennis. We’ll be looking to carry this momentum through into the summer ahead.”
Wheelchair Round Up
Gordon Reid was defeated by Alfie Hewett in the first round 6-1, 6-0.
Andy Lapthorne was defeated by David Wagner in the first round 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Alfie Hewett was defeated by Tokito Oda in the final 6-1, 6-4.
Lucy Shuker with Dana Mathewson were defeated by Pauline Deroulede & Emmanuelle Morch in the first round 4-6, 6-4, 10-5.
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