Dutch Duo Wins Wimbledon

Dutch Wheelchair Tennis players Robin Ammerlaan and Ronald Vink pushed themselves in the finals of the Wimbledon Wheelchair Tennis Master Series last week, defeating the French pair Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer. They were able to retain their title after a 6-7 (6-8), 6-1, 6-3 victory.

Although there were unfavourable weather conditions affecting the grass court, the four players were able to adapt. Ammerlaan and Vink made a successful comeback after losing the first set, proving their high-ranking status to the audience. The third set became an intense tiebreaker, which was in fact close (2-2) early on, but the Dutch players quickly regained, and held the lead.

“We were a little bit nervous in the third set,” Ammerlaan said, noting that in the second set they played well and their opponents had made several mistakes.

In the game which decided the third and fourth places, Tadeusz Kruszelnicki of Poland and Martin Legner of Austria defeated the British pair of David Phillipson and Gordon Reid. The scores, 6-4 and 6-2 led to a quicker victory for the Polish and Austrian players.

2008 had been the fourth consecutive year that the four leading men’s partnerships were first up against each other in the Wimbledon Doubles Masters Series. The event was sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) as part of the global Northeast Conference Wheelchair Tennis Tour. A record amount of about 28,000 USD was the prize this year.