Reid wins historic Wimbledon wheelchair tennis singles
Gordon Reid made Wimbledon history again on Sunday when he became the first ever wheelchair tennis men’s singles champion at The Championships. The British No.1 Reid defeated Sweden’s’ Stefan Olsson in straight sets 6-1, 6-4 to win his second Grand Slam singles title.
On another great day for the Tennis Foundation’s Wheelchair Tennis World Class Programme, Jordanne Whiley and Japan’s Yui Kamiji also made their own piece of history at the third Grand Slam of the year when the second seeds became the first partnership to win a hat-trick of Wimbledon ladies’ doubles titles.
World No.3 Reid took control early on in the first set and won it comfortably 6-1. After both players traded breaks of serve in the second set Reid took his opportunities to lead 5-3. Two games later successive errors from Olsson gave Reid two match points and although he hit a double fault on his first opportunity to seal the title, the 24-year-old Scot fired down an unreturnable serve to seal his place in the Wimbledon history books after 69 minutes.
“To win Wimbledon is an absolute dream. To do it here in front of the people I love, my friends and family, my coaches, with so much support. It's great,” said Reid. “I got tight on my first match point but on my second one I just forced myself to breathe and relax. I’ll never forget this moment, it’s incredible and such a special moment. To be able to play singles here at Wimbledon is brilliant; I’ve had worse weekends for sure!”
Reid’s historic singles achievement follows his doubles title from Saturday when he and Alfie became the first all-Brit partnership to win the Wimbledon wheelchair tennis men’s doubles title.
Whiley and Kamiji, the 2014 and 2015 champions, played Dutch top seeds Jiske Griffioen and Aniek van Koot in the ladies’ doubles final for the fourth successive year. The Brit-Japanese partnership put together a string of four games in a row in the first set and five games in a row in the second set to close out a 6-2, 6-2 victory and their eighth Grand Slam doubles title together.
“We’re both in a bit of shock if I’m honest,” said Whiley. “We never thought we could win three in a row as Jiske and Aniek are so strong but today I really felt like we played the best tennis at a Grand Slam. To win at Wimbledon is so special and the crowd today were brilliant. We just love being on court with each other and love playing with each other.”
