British trio finish runners-up in Sydney
8th February 2010Britain's Andrew Lapthorne, John Parfitt and Lucy Shuker all had to be content with runners-up honours as the Sydney International Wheelchair Tennis Open drew to a close on Sunday at Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre, Australia.
After beating Sweden's world No 3 and top seed Johan Andersson in the semi-finals of the quad singles, Middlesex's Andrew Lapthorne raced in to a 5-2 lead in the final against world No 4 and second seed Nick Taylor of the United States.
But despite having a set point, third seed Lapthorne was unable to sustain his attack and Taylor's greater experience saw him through to a 7-5, 6-3 victory.
Later in the day Lapthorne and fellow Briton John Parfitt took on top seeds Andersson and Taylor in the quad doubles final, but with a string of Paralympic medals behind them Andersson and Taylor's experience again proved a telling factor as they took the honours 6-2, 6-3.
The women's double final gave British women's No 1 Lucy Shuker and her Australian partner Daniela di Toro the opportunity to try and avenge their defeat to Florence Gravellier of France and Aniek van Koot of the Netherlands in last week's Australian Open women's doubles final.
However, Gravellier and van Koot once again proved too strong as they repeated their Melbourne win with a 6-1, 6-4 victory.
Last weekend saw the qualifying rounds of Europe's premier indoor junior team tennis competition, the Tennis Europe Winter Cups by HEAD.
A total of 118 teams from 33 European nations take part in the event, which is held for both 14U and 16U players and sees participation from most of the Tennis Europe Junior Tour's top ranked talents.
In the 14U girls’ event, Great Britain qualified for the final stage of the Tennis Europe Winter Cups alongside top seeds Germany after finishing runners-up in their qualifying group. The team consisting of Eleanor Dean, Grace Dixon, Katie Boulter, Alice Keddie and captain Helen Reesby scored convincing 3-0 victories over Georgia and Turkey during their Group D campaign.
Joining Britain and top seeds Germany in the final stage of the event include the Netherlands, Croatia, France, Ukraine, Czech Republic and Italy.
In the 14U boys’ event, the British team of Shakeel Manji, Peter Ashley, Joshua Sapwell, Christopher Egan-Morriss and captain Iain Hughes defeated Switzerland and Sweden on their way to finishing runners-up to France in Group D and thus earning themselves a place in the latter stages of the event later this month.
France overcame the British challenge to top the group in a repeat of the 2009 final which was won by Great Britain and marked the third British victory in this age category, and the first since Andy Murray skippered the team to victory in 2001.
In the 16U girls’ event, the British team finished third after a 2-1 defeat to Russia in the semi-finals was swiftly followed by a 3-0 victory over Poland in the play-off. Despite their play-off victory the British team of Jessica Ren, Joanna Henderson, Tiffany William, Caitlin Hindmarch and captain Iain Bates just failed to qualify for the final stage of the event.
In the 16U boys’ qualifying draw the British team of Luke Bambridge, Kyle Edmund, Jonathan Cornish, Joshua Ward-Hibbert and captain Martin Weston will aim to qualify for the final rounds of the 2010 Tennis Europe Winter Cups when they compete in their qualifying round during the weekend of February 12-14.
The final stages of the event take place in Pruhonice, Czech Republic, during the weekend of 19-21 February.
Meanwhile the AEGON Junior Grand Prix Masters 12U event took place in Sutton over the weekend, with Maia Lumsden taking the girls’ title and Robert Leck winning the boys’ event.
Leck claimed victory after a 7-6(5), 6-3 victory over Charlie Broom whilst Lumsden, who won the Highland Spring Hot Shots award at the 2009 British Tennis Awards last December, defeated Gabriella Taylor 6-2, 6-2 to secure victory in the girls’ event.