Reid reaches semis in chase for an elusive title

WHEELCHAIR TENNIS

TWO-TIME men’s singles runner-up Gordon Reid reached the semi-final of the LTA’S British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships at Nottingham Tennis Centre, beating fellow Brit Dermot Bailey 6-0, 6-3 yesterday.

It is 10 years since Reid first reached the final of the tournament and 16 years since, at 14, he made a sensational debut in Nottingham, winning the men’s second draw and junior titles at the 2006 event.

“It’s the British Open, it’s one of the first international events I ever played and I’ve been coming here for a long time,” he said.

“I’ve never won the main singles title, so I’ll be trying my best to do that this year,” said the 2016 Wimbledon champion and Rio Paralympic gold medallist Reid, who will play Spanish fourth seed Martin de la Puente in today’s semi-finals.

“It was quite windy, so it took a little bit of time to get used to the conditions but I thought I served well the whole match and obviously that puts your opponent under a lot of pressure straight away.

“I’m happy with that and hopefully I’ll build on that. Looking back at 2006, I don’t remember my tennis but I remember the buzz around the tournament as it was one of my first times witnessing all top international players. So, it was a great experience.”

Elsewhere on the third day of play, British number one Lucy Shuker fought back from 5-2 down in the second set of her women’s singles quarter-final against Israel’s Maayan Zikri to win 6-4, 7-6 (2).

Shuker faces Pauline Deroulede of France next as both bid to reach their first British Open final.

The doubles finals take place tomorrow, with the singles finals on Sunday.

Free tickets are available from the LTA website.