Scotland National Wheelchair Tennis Tournament: Four battle it out for historic prize

The tournament saw four men take part in a round-robin format on Sunday 4 October. Dumfries and Galloway’s Lee Lower came into the competition aiming to defend his 2026 title and was joined in the group by Thomas McCaffrey, Scott Kennedy and Alan Kinnear.

Opening matches

In the opening matches, Lower faced Kennedy, who came into the tournament chasing his first piece of silverware, having finished third in 2023. It was the third time the pair had faced each other, with Lower having won the previous two meetings.

While the pressure of defending a title might have been felt by the man from Dalbeattie, it didn’t show as his consistent serving and powerful forehand saw him ease past his Glaswegian opponent 4-0, 4-0.

On the adjacent court, Kinnear faced McCaffrey. This was Kinnear’s second year competing in Glasgow, having made his debut in 2025. McCaffrey, meanwhile, was returning to the event for the first time in three years, having missed 2025 due to injury.

McCaffrey got off to a strong start by breaking Kinnear’s serve at the first attempt and recorded a 4-0, 4-0 victory.

Plenty to play for

Despite plenty still to play for in the second round, both matches on paper appeared to carry a lot of weight.

Although Kinnear and Kennedy train together regularly at the Glasgow Disability Tennis wheelchair sessions at Scotstoun, this was their first official meeting.

The match was expected to be close, and it lived up to expectations. Kinnear looked secure on his serve and his consistency proved too much for Kennedy as he broke serve twice to take the first set.

Kennedy was never going to go quietly and fought back valiantly in the second set, but Kinnear kept his cool to claim the first win of his career 4-0, 4-2.

Lower then faced McCaffrey in the second singles meeting between the players, with Lower leading in the head-to-head after winning 4-0, 5-3 in 2022.

The points were hard fought with both players struggling to find their opponent’s weaknesses early in the contest, but McCaffrey was able to put their history to one side and take the match 4-0, 4-0.

Medals on the line

McCaffrey faced Kennedy in the final round. This was the third meeting between the pair, with McCaffrey having edged the previous contests.

Despite having just finished a marathon second-round match, Kennedy opted to serve first, but some strong returns and consistent serving from McCaffrey saw him win 4-0, 4-0 and claim the 2026 title.

Lower faced Kinnear in the battle for second place and went into the tie with a 1-0 head-to-head record against his Glaswegian opponent from the 2025 event.

With a medal up for grabs, both players started well, but in the end Lower’s experience proved the difference as he won 4-2, 4-0.

'Really special feeling'

After the competition, McCaffrey said: “I’m delighted to have won this year’s event.

“The Scotland National was my first competition in 2022, and so to win it for the first time this year is a really special feeling.

“It’s a really friendly group of players we have in Scotland, and so, as well as the competition, it’s a great opportunity to meet up with the other players and see how we’ve all developed.”