Crowd Support Hoped to be Continued as We Head into the British Open Wheelchair Championships

The British Open Wheelchair Championships in Nottingham starts this week and wheelchair tennis stars hope that the support they received in Wimbledon will be replicated for these championships. 

A crowd of nearly 10,000 people on Court No.1, and close to two million viewers via BBC two, watched as Hewitt and Reid won their fifth Wimbledon and 18th Grand Slam title 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 at Wimbledon this July.

During an interview following the match, Reid applauded the fan support and said to Tennis Threads:

“I want to say thank you to all our team from the LTA. On match point, we were both tearing up a little bit because of the atmospher. My first Wimbledon was in 2008. If you’d told me then that we’d be on No.1 Court in front of a nearly full stadium with a crowd going absolutely berserk, I’d never have believed you. 

“These two guys [Hewett and Oda] are going to have a great singles match tomorrow [Sunday 16th July 2023], so come back out and support them and get behind wheelchair tennis again.”

And the crowd did exactly that and turned up again for the Men’s Wheelchair Finals on Court No.1 the next day where Oda, from Japan and world number one, became Wimbledon’s youngest men’s champion after a 6-4, 6-2 win over the British player, Hewitt. 

Both are now, returning this week for the Championships in Nottingham. Which is running from the 1st to the 6th of August. With the doubles final matches taking place on Saturday the 5th of August and the singles final matches taking place Sunday the 6th of August. 

But not only will we get to see Hewitt, Reid, and Oda take to the court again but also Andy Lapthorne, and 2022 Women’s Singles finalist Lucy Shuker along with a whole host of international stars as well, all competing for a British Open title. 

Following Wimbledon, Hewitt is now hoping for huge crowd support in this upcoming week and commented this after Wimbledon to the LTA:

“It’s great for all the British players to have some home support. It’s obviously been amazing this week and hopefully, we can continue that into the British Open. 

“It’s a great event and it’s great to be on home soil again, off the back of Wimbledon and Queen’s. It's exciting to be able to carry that momentum through and a chance for more British people to come and support us.”

The British Open is taking place at the Lexus Nottingham Tennis Centre and coverage will be available across all LTA digital channels, starting with the singles draws taking place tonight (Monday 31st July) and doubles draws to be announced on Tuesday 1st August.