Hewett & Reid book third round; Lapthorne & Slade guaranteed silver medal after quad doubles win
Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid delivered in their opening appearances at the Paris Paralympic Games to ease through to the men’s wheelchair singles third round, while rising stars Ben Bartram and Dahnon Ward exited the tournament despite two encouraging performances.
Meanwhile, Paralympic veteran Andy Lapthorne and debutant Greg Slade reach the gold medal match in the quad doubles draw after claiming victory on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
Top seed Hewett blitzed through to the third round after his 6-0, 6-1 win over Israel’s Sergei Lysov as his tilt to complete the career ‘Golden Slam’ continues.
The Briton showed strength on the return, winning over 70% of points on the Lysov serve to comfortably seize the opening set.
Paralympic debutant Lysov won his first game of the match out of the blocks in the second with a forehand ground stroke winner, but this year’s Wimbledon champion proved superior as he converted all three remaining break point opportunities to seal the win in 53 minutes.
The Rio silver medallist is slated to play the victor of the second round match between Alwande Sikhosana of South Africa and Daisuke Arai of Japan.
Meanwhile, Rio 2016 gold medallist and Tokyo bronze medallist Reid started his fifth Paralympics with a dominant 6-0, 6-0 victory over Suresh Dharmasena in the men’s wheelchair second round.
Over the course of the match, Reid produced 17 service winners, with more than half accounted to his second serve alone, to book his place in the next round in 50 minutes.
In the third round, the fifth seed will go head-to-head with either China’s Jinhui Ding or Japanese ninth seed Takuya Miki.
Debutant Bartram faced a challenge in the form of second seed Tokito Oda of Japan – a four-time Grand Slam champion.
The former junior world No.1 lost 6-2, 7-6(4) despite pushing the Japanese No.1 to his limits in the decisive set.
After losing the opening set, Bartram rediscovered his signature aggressive style to produce a closely contested battle with this year’s Australian and French Open champion, showcasing the ample quality he possesses.
At 5-5, 19-year-old Bartram proved his champions mindset, producing his first ace of the match in a high-pressured moment which led to a crucial hold following a heated battle at deuce.
The fate of the match now in the hands of an eventual tiebreak; Bartram was first to take initiative but former world No.1 Oda found his way back from 4-2 to secure victory in one hour and 28 minutes.
Ward was also to encounter the same result as compatriot Bartram after losing 6-2, 6-1 to seventh seed, and home favourite, Stephane Houdet.
Despite Ward’s first Paralympic Games coming to an end, the Brit showed marked improvement against the French national after their first career match ended 6-0, 6-0 last season.
Ward, who defeated Morocco’s Said Himam to reach the second round, earned his place on the board in the fourth game, retrieving one of two breaks against him before breaking a second time to stem Houdet’s increasing lead.
With the roaring crowds of Court Phillippe-Chatrier behind him, the Frenchman continued to frustrate, disallowing Ward to hold serve as he confirmed the fate of the opening set.
19-year-old Ward fought hard in the opening game of the second to break the former Grand Slam champion Houdet, but the world No.7 proceeded to win all remaining six games to join Hewett and Reid in the third round.
Doubles
Hewett and Reid returned to court following their earlier success in the singles, beating Alexander Cataldo and Brayan Tapia 6-1, 6-3 of Chile to ease through to the men’s wheelchair doubles quarter-finals.
The top seeds will play the winner of the match between Argentina’s Ezequiel Casco and Gustavo Fernandez and the Netherland’s Ruben Spaargaren and Maarten Ter Hofte.
But it was the end of the road for Bartram and Ward who lost 6-2, 7-5 to the Tokyo 2020 bronze medallists Tom Egberink and Maikel Scheffers.
Quad
The quad doubles world No.3 Lapthorneand world No.13 Sladeare guaranteed a silver medal after overcoming Brazilian duo Leandro Pena and Ymanitu Silva 6-1, 7-5.
Their appearance in the gold medal match will mark Lapthorne’s second appearance in a Paralympic quad doubles final, having won silver in 2012.
The British duo kept their unforced errors to a minimum, remaining consistent and capitalising on every mistake from the Brazilian camp to get a set on the board.
The latter stages of the second bore a greater test for the British representatives, however, as Pena and Silva secured their first hold since the start of play; a point which proved to be pivotal as they leveraged their new-found momentum to battle back from 4-1 behind to lead 6-5.
The Brazilian’s efforts soon unravelled after a double fault provided Lapthorne and Slade the opportunity to regain their lead and earn their place in the final after one hour and 31 minutes of action.
Lapthorne and Slade will play Dutch top seeds Sam Schroder and Niels Vink in Wednesday’s final.
