British crown for Andy and title for Abbie, too
BRITAIN’S Andy Lapthorne produced a polished performance on the sixth and final day of the LTA’S British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships to claim the quad singles title for the first time after beating Australian third seed Heath Davidson 6-4, 6-3 at Nottingham Tennis Centre.
Fellow British number one Lucy Shuker finished runner-up to Dutch top seed Aniek van Koot in the women’s singles final, while Belgian Joachim Gerard won his second British Open men’s singles title since 2013 at one of the biggest tournaments on the global UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour outside of the Grand Slams.
Top seed and world number four Lapthorne, contesting his sixth British Open final since 2014, earned a crucial break at the start of the match, which he backed up with some impressive service games, twice holding to love in the fourth and eighth games.
He wrapped up the opening set with successive forehands, the second of which drew the decisive error from Davidson’s racket.
“After losing here five times in the final, that was needed. It’s just amazing to win here, I know what it’s like to lose here,” said Lapthorne, who had lost three of his previous four matches against Davidson.
“I’ve lost finals from match point up and I’ve lost to Heath in our last two tournaments. He’s been playing great tennis so congratulations to him on a great summer.”
Lapthorne’s brand of aggressive high percentage tennis earned him a double break at the start of the second set and his third love service hold kept him in command at 4-2. The end came after 90 minutes, Davidson sending a backhand into the net that brought a huge outpouring of emotion from Lapthorne.
World number seven Shuker’s first British Open final came to an end when the Dorset star lost 6-2, 6-3 to world number three Van Koot, who claimed the women’s singles title for the first time in her sixth final after finishing runner-up five times between 2012 and 2016.
Shuker struggled to deal with the Dutchwoman’s game style, with Van Koot’s backhand slice causing real issues for the Brit.
Gerard defeated first-time finalist Martin de la Puente
6-0, 6-4 in the men’s singles final.
The Belgian imposed his powerful groundstrokes on the Spaniard throughout the match after De la Puente upset top seed and home favourite Gordon Reid in the semifinals.
Saturday’s penultimate day of play at Nottingham Tennis Centre also brough local success after Nottingham born 19-year-old Abbie Breakwell won the Nottingham Futures women’s singles title to claim her first senior international singles crown.
Now living in Long Eaton, Breakwell beat French top seed Zoe Maras 6-3, 6-3 in the final before partnering Maras to add the women’s doubles title.