The sport is something you can play with your friends and family. People who aren’t disabled can also take part and this helps to incorporate a sense of equality in the sport which can be adapted so people with different levels of ability can take part with reasonable adjustments to the equipment being used or the location in which it takes place. This helps to make the sport fairer for everyone to take part in, no matter their level of ability or any health conditions.
In the Men’s Wheelchair draw, Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid made it nine in a row after winning yet another Doubles title. The duo who won all four majors last year, also won all three in the season which was heavily affected due to Covid 19. Following an extremely competitive match in which they beat Gustavo Fernandez and Shingo Kunieda, they shared an emotional embrace after coming through an extremely tense tie break. This meant that the British pair came through to win the title 6-2, 4-6, 10-7. The pair’s golden run dates back to the 2019 US Open, with the pair sweeping all four Grand Slam doubles titles last season.
Hewett will also play in the Men’s Wheelchair Singles final where he will play Japanese top seed Kunieda. He has never won the singles title in Melbourne before but finished as the runner up last year. He also boasts five Grand Slam singles along with the 14 doubles titles. Reid moved onto 18 major wheelchair doubles titles, while he also won the singles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2016.
In the women’s draw, Lucy Schuker who is one of Great Britain’s most experienced players as an eight time Grand Slam Doubles finalist including; having three times finished runner-up at the Australian Open in 2010, 2013, 2021, as well as having reached the singles semi-final in Melbourne twice. However, the 41-year-old, who receives support as part of the LTA’s Wheelchair Tennis Performance Pathway, remains in search of that elusive first Grand Slam title. Lucy and her Japanese partner Yui Kamiji put up a good fight against top seeds Diede De Groot and Aniek Van Koot before going down 7-5 3-6 (10-2) in the women’s doubles final.
Elsewhere in the tournament, there was also British success in the quad doubles final where Andy Lapthorne and his partner David Wagner (USA) beat Dutch top seeds Sam Schroder and Niels Vink 2-6 6-4 (10-7). However, it wasn’t to be a double success for Andy after he was beaten by the world number one, Dylan Alcott in the Quad Wheelchair Singles semi-final at Melbourne Park. Following the match the pair embraced, paying an emotional tribute to Dylans’ final match after announcing his retirement on home soil. Alcott had just defeated Lapthorne 6-3, 6-0 in the Kia Arena when they met at the net to shake hands.
In a post match interview, Dylan said he “got a bit emotional. Andy is always a tough opponent, we had some great battles here at the Australian Open. We had a really nice embrace at the end where he said thanks for everything, thanks so much for changing his life. We were the first to play on the big courts here in a grand slam final, first grand slam to do it. It was against Andy. He’s always been a great competitor and a good guy.”
This helped to crown an eighth consecutive Australian Open Quad Singles Final for Alcott and helps to highlight the difficulties and obstacles they have overcome in order to be where they are today. His achievements will also help other disabled people who may choose to take up the sport and what they can achieve if they really try.
