Reid is planning to make history as SW19’s first wheelchair singles champ
Wimbledon is ready for a tartan takeover today as Scots Andy Murray and Gordon Reid go for glory.
Murray will have the attention of the nation as he goes for his second triumph at SW19 against Canadian Milos Raonic on Centre Court at 2pm.
However, Reid is hoping to be crowned men’s wheelchair singles champion before the main event even starts.
Reid, 24, won the Australian Open in Januar y and is dreaming of becoming the singles’ wheelchair champion in this, the first year the event has taken place at Wimbledon.
The Alexandria-born player won the doubles with partner Alfie Hewett yesterday and is targeting a second success against Swede Stefan Olsson.
Reid said: “It has been a bit of a fairytale story so far. Hopefully I can finish it off the right way.
“To have two Scots in the finals of the two singles is not bad for a small country like ours. For me, having a chance to win the first time they’ve had a wheelchair singles event is huge.”
Rangers-fan Reid, who has been in a wheelchair since the age of 13 when he was struck with Transverse Myelitis, a disease which affects the spinal cord, is delighted his sport is being recognised and has had congratulatory tweets from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, PM David Cameron and Ibrox manager Mark Warburton.
He added: “David Cameron, Nicola Sturgeon, al l the controversial ones. Mark Warburton. There’s too many to read. I went to Ibrox after the Australian Open and I was out on the park so it would be pretty special if I got to do that again.”
Before that, he has to win
today and he added: “Andy’s ‘the man’ at the moment. He’s playing well. He’s doing a good job so far and hopefully we can get two wins under our belt.
“I think I’m going to be first on at 11am. Hopefully, we’ll get the match over before Andy goes on. So it’s a good warm-up for the main event later on.
“He has inspired me since I was young, like he has a lot of players in Scotland and the United Kingdom.
“We don’t speak that much. I mean, he’s a busy guy!
“Our schedules don’t cross over that often. But I know a lot of his team quite well now. Whenever we bump into each other, we’ll have a chat.”
One thing Reid fancies claiming from Murray – or Tim Henman – is the naming rights on the Wimbledon hill, where hundreds watched his triumph yesterday.
He laughed: “I saw them all on the hill watching it on the big screen. I heard somebody say it was being renamed Reid’s Ridge now but I don’t know if that’s going to catch on.”