Brits win silver and bronze at wheelchair tennis World Team Cup
Great Britain end the BNP Paribas World Team Cup with two medals after the quad team claimed silver and the men’s team won bronze on a good penultimate day of competition in Tokyo, Japan.
Britain had a shot at gold in the quad event with the tie poised at 1-1 going into the deciding doubles match, with Jamie Burdekin and Dylan Alcott winning their singles rubbers for Great Britain and Australia respectively earlier in the day.
However in a tense atmosphere under the roof at the Ariake Coliseum, the Australian pairing of Alcott and Heath Davidson were ultimately the stronger, winning the doubles 6-3, 6-4 to clinch the world title and leave Britain having to settle for silver. Earlier in the day Jamie Burdekin had put Great Britain 1-0 up after beating Davidson 6-4, 6-3, but world No.1 Alcott levelled the tie by beating Lapthorne 6-2, 6-4 leaving the world title to come down to the deciding doubles match.
Commenting on the result, Andy Lapthorne said:
“I’m gutted to have lost today, we had big hopes coming into the tournament and desperately wanted to win another world title. Fair play to the Aussies though they were the better pairing on the day. It hurts now but we need to use this as motivation for Rio.”
Teammate, Jamie Burdekin said:
“I was feeling confident after winning my singles but we just couldn’t do it. It was one or two points here or there which swung the match and changed the momentum. It’s tough to deal with now but I think it will teach us a lot in the long run and me and Andy still return home with a big win last week in the doubles at the Japan Open.”
Britain’s men added to the medal haul by beating Australia 2-0 to win the bronze medal. Seeded fifth going into the tournament, the team were given the perfect start by Marc McCarroll who cruised past Keegan Oh Chee 6-1, 6-1. Eighteen year-old Alfie Hewett (pictured below), who has enjoyed a stellar week as the number one player for Britain, then dispatched Ben Weekes 6-1, 6-3 to give Britain the bronze without the final doubles being played.
Youngster Alfie Hewett said:
“It’s been another good week at World Team Cup, after we won gold last year and I’m chuffed to win bronze, Being the number one player and stepping up was something I was looking to do this week. I came up against Gustavo (Fernandez) and Shingo (Kunieda) and really did well against them. I’m really happy for the team and the people behind us — a lot of hard work and preparation has gone into it from the Tennis Foundation support team and our programme supported by Lottery funding from UK Sport so it’s brilliant to finish with a bronze.”
Dermot Bailey who made his World Team Cup senior debut this week said:
“It’s been a great experience, being around the squad is brilliant. We’ve had some great stories and banter this week as a team and the support has been amazing. I’m happy I got to play a singles match as well and play my part in the bronze medal.”
Sadly it was not to be for Britain’s juniors, who had already surpassed their sixth seeding coming into the tournament before their third-fourth place play-off, as they faced a tough test in second seeds the Netherlands. Despite a spirited fight Ruairi Logan lost the opening singles match 7-5, 6-4, meaning Josh Cooper had to win his singles to keep the tie alive. Unfortunately he was unable to match Ruben Spaargaren and went down 6-1, 6-2.
Meanwhile Britain’s women enjoyed a comfortable 2-0 win over Morocco, with Louise Hunt defeating Najwa Awane 6-2, 6-1 and Lauren Jones comfortably dispatching Habboubi Naima 6-0, 6-0.
