Brits earn top-three finishes at UNIQLO Wheelchair Doubles Masters
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Brits Antony Cotterill, Andy Lapthorne, Louise Hunt, Lucy Shuker and Gordon Reid all earned top three finishes at the 2018 UNIQLO Wheelchair Doubles Masters, with Cotterill and Lapthorne runners-up for the second year in a row in the quad doubles and Hunt and the USA's Dana Mathewson finishing runners-up in the women's doubles for the second time in three years. Reid and Gustavo Fernandez and Shuker and Diede de Groor also won bronze medals in the men's and women's doubles.
In their third successive quad final at the Doubles Masters, 2016 champions Cotterill and Lapthorne finished second in their round-robin group to the USA's Nick Taylor and David Wagner. Th Brits the pushed Taylor and Wagner close in both sets of Saturday's final before the defending champion claimed their 11th title in the event 6-4 7-6(6).
In Sunday's women's doubles final Hunt and Mathewson were unable to repeat their tremendous start to the week, when they beat Dutch second seeds Marjolein and Aniek van Koot. Buis and Van Koot came back to win the final 6-3, 6-1.
Shuker and de Groot bounced back from their first ever loss as a partnership in the semi-finals to finish their week on a high in the women’s doubles third place play-off. Shker and de Grooot dominated against Germany’s Katharina Kruger and Dutchwoman Michaela Spaanstra too win 6-0, 6-1.
Meanwhile, after back-to-back losses in their last round-robin pool match and then their semi-final, second seeds Reid and Fernandez also completed their campaign on a winning note, defeating Japan’s Shingo Kunieda and Takashi Sanada 6-1, 6-7(6), 6-2 in their third place play-off match.
Day 3 Wrap – Friday, 15.11.18
Antony Cotterill and Andy Lapthorne booked their place in their third successive UNIQLO Wheelchair Doubles Masters quad final on the last day of round-robin competition in Bemmel as Louise Hunt and Dana Mathewson joined Lucy Shuker and Deide de Groot in the women’s doubles semi-finals.
Brits remain in contention for all three doubles titles in the Netherlands, despite Gordon Reid and Gustavo Fernandez losing their last men’s double round-robin pool match.
Top seeds Cotterill and Lapthorne will face USA duo Nick Taylor and David Wagner in the Doubles Masters quad final for the third year running after the Brits wrapped up their third and last round-robin contest against the USA’s Greg Hasterok and South Africa’s Lucas Sithole 6-4, 7-6(3).
After beating the women’s doubles second seeds on Wednesday, Hunt and Mathewson continued their winning ways as they came from behind in the second set tie-break to beat Japan’s Momoko Ohtani and Manami Tanaka 6-4, 7-6(6). Top of Pool B, Hunt and Mathewson will now play Germany’s Katharina Kruger and Michaela Spaanstra of the Netherlands for a place in Sunday’s final.
With Shuker and Diede de Groot of the Netherlands top of Pool A and playing the all-Dutch partnership of Marjolein Buis and Aniek van Koot in the other semi-final, there’s still a possibility of Brits being on opposite sides of the net in the women’s doubles final, just like there was in 2016.
Already through to the men’s doubles semi-finals before their last round-robin match on Friday, Fernandez and Reid had the luxury of not needing to win their last pool match against teenage duo Ruben Spaargaren and Jef Vandorpe and in the event it was the Dutch-Belgian pairing who came out on top in an enthralling match 3-6, 63, 6-2.
Reid and Fernandez play Wimbledon finalists and reigning British Open champions Joachim Gerard of Belgium and Stefan Olsson of Sweden in their semi-final.
Day 2 Wrap - Thursday, 15.11.18
Thursday’s second day of play in Bemmel brought two wins from three round-robin matches as both Gordon Reid and Lucy Shuker booked semi-final places alongside their respective Doubles Masters partners.
Reid and Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez made it two emphatic wins in two matches in Pool B of the men’s doubles after the second seeds beat Dutch partnership Tom Egberink and Maikel Scheffers 6-1, 6-0. Reid and Fernandez play Ruben Spaargaren of the Netherlands and Jef Vandorpe of Belgium on Friday in their final pool match.
On the day, Shuker and Diede de Groot of the Netherlands were even more dominant than Reid and Fernandez.
Top seeds and 2016 champions Shuker and de Groot powered to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Charlotte Famin of France and South Africa’s Kgothatso Montjane, ending their two Pool A round-robin matches unbeaten.
After their victory over the Dutch second seeds on the opening day of play Louise Hunt and the USA’s Dana Mathewson complete their Pool B round-robin matches on Friday when they take on Japan’s Momoko Ohtani and Manami Tanaka, with the winners also advancing to the semi-finals.
Antony Cotterill and Andy Lapthorne face a crucial contest against the USA’s Greg Hasterok and South Africa’s Lucas Sithole on Friday in their bid to reach the quad doubles final for the third successive year.
Top seeds Cotterill and Lapthorne put up a determined effort against defending champions Nick Taylor and David Wagner on Thursday, but ultimately the American second seeds just had the edge to seal a 6-3, 4-6, 6- 3 victory.
Day 1 Wrap - Wednesday 14.11.18
Brits made it four wins from four matches on the first day of round-robin competition at the 2018 UNIQLO Wheelchair Doubles Masters, the highlight being a thrilling late-night victory for Louise Hunt and her partner Dana Mathewson against the women’s doubles second seeds.
Hunt and Mathewson battled back from 2-0 down, 4-2 down and then 5-3 down in the deciding set to complete a 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(5) thrilling victory after three hours and 45 minutes. Their second and last Pool B contest against Japan’s Momoko Ohtani and Manami Tanaka will be on Friday.
In Pool A top seeds Lucy Shuker and Diede de Groot also began their bid to regain the Doubles Masters title they won in 2016 with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Germany’s Katharina Kruger and Michaela Spaanstra of the Netherlands in Pool A.
Shuker and d de Groot bid to remain unbeaten and guarantee top position in Pool A when they play Charlotte Famin of France and Kgothatso Montjane of South Africa on Thursday.
Quad doubles top seeds Antony Cotterill and Andy Lapthorne recovered from a slow start against the USA’s Bryan Barten and Brazil’s Ymanitu Silva and won the points that mattered in the next two set to secure a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 win. The 2016 Doubles Masters champions now play USA second seeds and ten-time winners Nick Taylor and David Wagner in a contest between the last two sets of Doubles Masters champions.
Gordon Reid and Gustavo Fernandez produced a fine display against Japan’s Shingo Kunieda and Takashi Sanada to earn a comfortable 6-0, 6-1 win in their opening men’s doubles Pool B match.
Reid and Fernandez play Dutch duo Tom Egberink and Maikel Scheffers on Thursday’s second day of play to decide which team will go into Friday’s third and last day of round-robin matches unbeaten in their pool.
PREVIEW
Reid has won three previous Doubles Masters men's titles with three different partners. This week he bids for his fourth title with his fourth different partner after joining forces with Argentina's Gustavo Fernandez. Reid and Fernandez are second seeds and are drawn in Pool A for the
initial round-robin phase of the competition.
They play Japan's Shingo Kunieda and Takashi Sanada first on Wednesday, with pool contests against Dutch duo Tom Egberink and Maikel Scheffers and Dutch Belgian partnership Ruben Spaargaren and Jef Vandorpe to come.
Shuker and Hunt were on opposite sides of the net in the women's final in 2016 and both Brits are this year partnering the same players they teamed up with two years ago.
After reaching multiple Doubles Masters finals, Shuker finally won the trophy in 2016, partnering Diede de Groot of the Netherlands, when Hunt and the USA's Dana Mathewson were runners-up.
Shuker and de Groot are in Pool A for the round-robin phase of the women's singles this year and play Charlotte Famin of France and South Africa's Kghothatso Montjane, as well as Germany's Katharina Kruger and Michaela Spaanstra of the Netherlands.Hunt and Mathewson face Dutch seconds seeds Marjolein Buis and Aniek van Koot in their first Pool B match on Wednesday before then playing Japan's Momoko Ohtani and Manami Tanaka.
The top two partnerships in each women's pool go forward to the semi-finals.
Cotterill and Lapthorne were crowned Doubles Masters quad champions in 2016 before finishing runners-up to Americans Nick Taylor and David Wagner last year. This year Cotterill and Lapthorne play the USA's Bryan Barten and Brazil's Ymanitu Silva in their opening round-robin match. They will then face Taylor and Wagner and American Greg Hasterok and South Africa's Lucas Sithole, with the top two partnerships after the round-robin going forward to this weekend' s final.
