The LTA’s Bolton Indoor ITF 2 Wheelchair Tennis Tournament
- Peter Harding
- Mar 1, 2023
- 7 min read
On Sunday 26th February Bolton was host to the first two British tournaments on the International Tennis Federation’s UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour Finals for the second successive year. Six Grand Slam champions who have won 46 major titles between them were among more than 100 players from 23 countries contesting the LTA’s Bolton Indoor ITF 2 wheelchair tennis tournament.
Despite the train strikes causing havoc across the country, all the players who had qualified to reach the finals had attended along with the travelling support and officials. The finals consisted of the men's singles, men's doubles, women's singles, women's doubles, quad singles, quad doubles, boy's singles main, boy's singles consolation, girls singles main and the girls singles consolation.
In the men's singles, the stand out performance was Gordon Reid who won his singles final match against Tom Egberink in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. Reid has been recovering from a wrist injury he sustained in the last year so this tournament was proof that he is back and means business. Why Can't We spoke to him after his singles match:
I'm looking forward to the slams. Looking forward to Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Queens with the busy summer ahead. I was at those tournament last year but realistically playing with an injury. Hopefully, I can keep fit and healthy over the next few months, keep building and progressing in my game and then have a right good go at those events in the summer.
It was also a good result for Gordon Reid after teaming up with Ben Bartram for the first time. Ben is only 17 years old but is playing at the to of his game and going stroke to stroke against the top players. Having watched the incredible talent that was on show in the junior competitions, Why Can't We asked Gordon about what he thought about Ben's breakthrough and the rest of the athletes coming through:
I've been aware of Ben for a few years and Dahnon [Ward] as well with both of them coming through the juniors. I think they have both progressed a lot over the last year/18 months. I've faced up against Ben a couple of times in the doubles but this was the first time on the same side of the net as him. It was a lot of fun and I think we played a great match in the semi-final against a really experienced pair, which is a tough pairing for anyone to beat. So, to do it in our first pairing together was testament to the way that he has matured over the last few months and years. Obviously it was disapointing to not play the final today. It would have been nice to have another one after the semi-final yesterday but I think it was a good experiance for both of us. When Alfie (Hewett) isn't around then I'm sure you'll see us teaming up again at some point.
It wasn't just Ben who was the only one to impress as fellow 17 year old Joshua Johns came through to claim the boys singles title. The win moves him up to 4th in the ITF Junior rankings and makes him a name to look out for in the future.
It is important to note that these tournaments are not possible without the hard work that the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) puts into organising the events. So, Why Can't We spoke to Rob Cross who is the Head Coach of the Wheelchair Performance Pathway who spoke about the tournament means for British Wheelchair Tennis:
It's so important to get the competition for the players but also for all the staff to be here and to watch as well as some fans that helps with the home advantage. We are just so grateful that these competitions are put on. Even having international competitions for the juniors and all the athletes, it just means that we can give lots more feedback and see how they are getting on rather than having to send players over-seas and having to do that. It just helps make a big a difference to our whole year having this competition so it is brilliant.
When Rob was asked about the talent that he saw coming through, he said:
Seeing players like Abby Breakwell, Ruby Bishop coming though on the ladies side as well as Cornelia (Oosthuizen) who are getting exposer on the women's games which is vital. Then we have Joshua Johns who is one of our juniors and has won the second draw and has played so many matches but has now won the junior draw so it all helps with his ranking ahead of the US Open later this year. Every player is gaining valuable experience but there has been some really good performances so the quality has been really impressive and gives us lots of encouragement.
But, what happens after this tournament? Well, it's back to the national training centre for most of the staff and players and there is also 2 weeks in America for some players who are competing in the ITF1 and Super Series. Straight after that it's onto the Paribas World Team Cup as well as some tournaments in Turkey that are ITF3 and futures for some of the lower ranked players. Of course, it's then time for the Grand Slams with Rolland Garros and Wimbledon soon after.
If you are someone who is looking to get involved with Wheelchair Tennis then Rob says:
We do run talent initiatives and there are another string of tournaments that are run by the LTA as well as the more regional tournaments that have novice sections there. There are also 'Come Try' days but there are also opportunities to play in the tournaments as well. It sounds scary at first but it is not as they are very social and very friendly with lots of opportunities to meet the people involved in wheelchair tennis. The LTA have also done the 'Open For All' scheme as well so there are lots of opportunities to play Wheelchair Tennis and we're trying to get more and more.
The LTA Website has lots of information including other adaptions such as Learning Disability, Deaf and Visually Impaired tennis formats that you can get involved with. If you are a coach then Rob has another message for you as well:
It might seem scary to coach wheelchair tennis but it is just tennis on wheels, it's exactly the same with a few different adaptions.
So, if you are a coach or a player looking reach the GB athlete or coach status then make sue you get involved!
LTA Press Release
Gordon Reid and Andy Lapthorne equalled the records for most men’s singles and quad singles titles won at the LTA’s Bolton Indoor ITF 2 Wheelchair Tennis Tournament on Sunday as both Brits secured their third victories apiece with straight sets wins at Bolton Arena. The women’s singles title went to American top seed Dana Mathewson, who ended British No.1 Lucy Shuker’s title defence in the final.
Sixth seed Reid wrapped up a tremendous week, the British No.2 beating Dutch third seed and Tokyo Paralympic silver medallist 6-2, 6-3 for his first singles title since the 2021 cinch Championships at The Queen’s Club after an injury-hit 2022 season.
Reid, who led Spanish second seed Martin de la Puente 6-2 before world No.6 De la Puente was forced to retire from Saturday’s semi-final, won seven games in a row against Egberink to earn a 6-2, 3-0 lead in the title decider. World ranked No.12 at the start of the tournament, the 2014 and 2015 Bolton champion said:
I’m really happy with the week. It was a strong line-up with a lot of top players so to come here and win quite convincingly is great. The level of performance today was high from me and it’s a good confidence-booster for the rest of the year. I had a couple of good singles wins out in Australia last month but to back it up here in the semi-finals and the final is obviously a bonus. I didn’t play too much at all last year and I know that everything I pick up until July is going to put me back up the rankings, so I just need to focus on the tennis and the performance and the ranking will take care of itself.
Reid left Bolton with two titles after teaming up with 17-year-old Brit Ben Bartram to win their first doubles title in their first tournament together as a partnership.
Twenty two-time Grand Slam champion Reid and Bartram beat Dutch second seeds Egberink and Maikel Scheffers 1-6, 6-4, (10-7) in their semi-final before being awarded a walkover in the final, with De La Puente still unable to play. Reid added:
I’ve faced up against Ben a couple of times in doubles but it’s the first time on the same side of the net as him and it was a lot of fun. We played a great match yesterday to win our semi-final against a really experienced pair and so to do it in out first tournament together is testament to how he’s matured in the last year and when Alfie (Hewett) is not around I can see us teaming up again somewhere.
World No.7 Lapthorne, the 2016 and 2018 quad singles champion in Bolton, completed his hat-trick of tournament singles victories after a 6-2, 6-3 victory over fellow Brit and seventh seed Greg Slade. Slade earned the best win of his career to beat Brazilian second seed Ymanitu Silva 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-3 and seal his place in his first ITF 2 singles final.
Lapthorne, who is among the players supported by the LTA’s Elite Wheelchair Programme along with Reid, said:
Singles-wise it’s been a good week. It’s always good to get some wins in early in the season and really good to be playing against another Brit. That’s the first time in a while that we’ve had an all-British quad final and there are some good signs there for the future and I’m, just really happy to win again.
Lapthorne and Slade finished runners-up in the quad doubles after victory went to the top seeds, Slovakia’s Tomas Masaryk and Silva 6-0, 3-6, (10-6). Lapthorne added:
It’s always going to be difficult when you’ve played each other in singles to come out and play doubles and energy-wise we were probably a bit low, but did well to turn it around in the second set. It just didn’t go our way in the tie-break, but we’re still young as a team and will look forward to the next one.
With Bolton Arena having hosted the first two British-based world ranking events on the International Tennis Federation’s UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour across 10 days, the ITF 2 women’s singles title went to Mathewson just five days after the world No.9 won the ITF 3 title. Mathewson beating world No.10 Shuker 6-3, 6-0.
There were also runners-up honours for Shuker in the women’s doubles as French second seeds Pauline Deroulede and Emmanuelle Morch claimed that title. Deroulede and Morch edged out British second seeds Shuker and Cornelia Oosthuizen 7-6(4), 2-6, (10-6) in a deciding match tie-break.
More news and reflection from the Bolton Indoor ITF 2 is available on the LTA website at www.lta.org.uk and via the LTA’s Wheelchair Tennis social media channels at https://twitter.com/WChairTennisGB or https://www.facebook.com/GBWheelchairTennis/.
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