Australian Open champions Hewett, Reid & Lapthorne lead British doubles title success across the world
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From silverware Down Under at the first Grand Slam of the season to doubles titles across Europe – here are the highlights from the last week in British tennis.
Two titles and five finalists in Melbourne
This year’s Australian Open brought its fair share of British success with two Grand Slam titles and five British finalists across all the draws.
Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid starred in the men’s wheelchair doubles once again as they claimed a fifth successive title at Melbourne Park.
The British duo wrapped up their 19th Grand Slam together with a 6-3, 6-2 win against Takuya Miki and Tokito Oda in Friday’s final. The world No.1 and 2 remain the team to beat this year in men’s wheelchair doubles and finished another impressive week without dropping a set.
Hewett was also a finalist in the men’s singles event but was unable to retain his title – losing to Oda 6-2, 6-4 as the 17-year-old claimed his first major win in Australia.
In the quad doubles, Andy Lapthorne and American doubles partner David Wagner won their ninth Grand Slam title together against Ronald Ramphadi and Guy Sasson 6-4, 3-6, 10-2.
The pair lifted the Australian Open trophy exactly 10 years on from capturing their first Grand Slam title together.
Neal Skupski reached his third mixed doubles final and first in Melbourne with Desirae Krawczyk. Despite having championship point in the deciding match tie-break, the two-time Wimbledon champions were eventually defeated by third seeds Su-wei Hsieh and Jan Zielinski 6-7(5), 6-4, 11-9.
Lastly, 17-year-old Viktor Frydrych finished as runner-up in the boys’ doubles with Czech Republic’s Petr Brunclik.
Frydrych became the first Brit to reach the final since Liam Broady and Joshua Ward-Hibbert won the title in 2012, but narrowly lost out to Maxwell Exsted and Cooper Woestendick 6-3, 7-5.
Back-to-back Challengers for Johnson
Doubles star Luke Johnson claimed his second ATP Challenger in as many weeks with Skander Mansouri at Ottignes-Louvain-la-Neuve in Belgium.
Johnson and Mansouri sealed back-to-back trophies with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Sander Arende and Sem Verbeek in the final.
The British, Tunisian duo have now made the semi-finals or better at each of their four events played this season.
Johnson’s seventh Challenger doubles title in the last two years has seen him rise to a new career high of world No.83.
Grey & Nicholls title-winners in Portugal
Last week saw a career-best title for Sarah Beth Grey – teaming up with fellow Brit Olivia Nicholls to win the W75+H Porto doubles event.
The British partnership won all four of their matches in deciding tie-breaks. In the final, they came back from a set down to defeat Portuguese duo Francisca Jorge and Matilde Jorge 4-6, 6-3, 10-6.
Elsewhere, Naiktha Bains was a finalist at the W50 Pune with Fanni Stollar but finished runners-up to Alexandra Eala and Darja Semenistaja 7-6(8), 6-3.
Britain’s Michael Shaw and James Markiewicz were also runners-up at the M15+H Bagnoles De Lorne – losing the final to Filippo Romano and Leonardo Taddia 7-6(4), 6-3.
There was also a wheelchair doubles final for Cornelia Oosthuizen at the Indian Wells Graden Wheelchair Championships alongside France’s Emmanuelle Morch. The duo lost out in the final against top seeds Macarena Cabrillana and Saki Takamuro 6-1, 6-2.
