Wagner wins 12th Cajun Classic title
Hewett and Buis also claim men and women’s singles titles, respectively. 27 Mar 2017The USA’s world No. 2 and top seed David Wagner won his 12th Cajun Classic quad singles title on Saturday (25 March). It came after rain in Baton Rouge, USA, caused long delays to the penultimate day at the latest International Tennis Federation (ITF) 1 Series event on the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour.
Wagner made it two titles in as many weeks in the USA after he followed up his success at the Arizona Open with a 6-3, 7-6 (1) victory over Great Britain’s world No. 3 Andy Lapthorne. The two met in the final in Baton Rouge for the fourth time since 2012; Wagner won the last three finals.
But the tables were turned in Sunday’s (26 March) quad doubles final as Great Britain’s second seeds Antony Cotterill and Lapthorne took the title 6-2, 2-6 (10-7) in the deciding match tiebreak against Nick Taylor and Wagner.
Cotterill and Lapthorne’s victory brought them their second straight win over USA’s three-time Paralympic gold medallists after the Brits also won last November’s UNIQLO Wheelchair Doubles Masters.
Hewett wins titles
Great Britain’s Alfie Hewett claimed the second ITF 1 Series men’s singles title of his career on Sunday.
Hewett’s first meeting with Stefan Olsson since beating the Swede in the men’s singles quarter finals at the Rio 2016 Paralympics produced a closely contested final between the top two seeds. The British world No. 6 claimed the points that mattered to close out a 7-5, 6-4 victory.
Later that day Hewett and the Netherlands’ Maikel Scheffers took the opening set of the men’s doubles final against Olsson and South Africa’s Evans Maripa 6-1 and were gifted the title when Olsson had to retire during the second set.
Buis sparks Dutch brace in women’s singles, doubles
In an all-Dutch showdown in the women’s singles finals, Marjolein Buis and Aniek van Koot met in Baton Rouge for the fourth time since 2010, with van Koot having won their three previous meetings.
However, world No. 6 Buis flipped the script on Sunday, earning a 6-2, 6-4 win for her first victory over her fellow Dutchwoman since 2015. Buis’s victory also brought her second straight UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour singles title.
Buis and van Koot later paired up to take the women’s doubles title. The Dutch duo’s 6-1, 6-3 victory ended the USA’s Dana Mathewson and Great Britain’s Lucy Shuker’s bid for back-to-back doubles titles after Arizona Open success.
Complete results from the Cajun Classic can be found on the ITF’s website.