Lapthorne Upsets World’s Top-Ranked Wheelchair Tennis Quads Player

09 Nov 2011 By IPC

With the Invacare Doubles Masters tournament over, several of the world’s Wheelchair Tennis greats made their way to Mechelen, Belgium, on Tuesday (8 November) to kick off the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters singles event.

On the first day of the tournament, Great Britain’s Andrew Lapthorne beat world No. 1 David Wagner of the USA for the first time in his career in the quads competition, winning the last five games of the opening set to lead to a 6-2 7-5 victory.

In the other quads match, Israel’s Noam Gershony took just 55 minutes to defeat the USA’s Nick Taylor in straight sets, 6-1 6-0.

The men’s singles competition was highlighted by second-seeded Maikel Scheffers’ victory over Dutch teammate Robin Ammerlaan. Scheffers completed a sequence of seven games in a row in sealing a 3-6 6-3 6-0 victory over the six-time event champion.

Nicolas Peifer and Stephane Houdet of France and Stefan Olsson of Sweden also won their opening singles matches.

Four Dutchwomen were victorious on the women’s side, as Esther Vergeer, Aniek van Koot, Sharon Walraven and Jiske Griffioen all won their matches.

Vergeer opened her bid for her 14th event title with a 6-1 6-1 victory over Germany’s Sabine Ellerbrock, while Walvern defeated teammate Marjolein Buis in a thrilling match, 7-6 6-7 6-1.

Matches will resume Wednesday.