Andy Lapthorne was pleased to battle through a tough opponent and tricky conditions in the opening round of the LTA’s British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships.
Feltham’s Lapthorne is the top seed in the quad wheelchair singles in Nottingham and was up against South Africa’s Donald Ramphadi in the opening round.
The 31-year-old breezed through the opening set but tricky conditions and improvement from his opponent made the second set more of a challenge.
However, Lapthorne was able to fend off a comeback and seal a 6-2 7-6(5) victory over the South African on Thursday morning.
“I won the first set, which was great. I was playing really good tennis and I felt absolutely shocking in that second set, so I’m really pleased to come through and to win,” he said.
“I wouldn’t say I was very focused. I was just trying to find a way to win and I haven’t done that a lot recently, so I’m just trying to do everything possible to make balls and try and play as well as possible. “Thankfully I managed to do that for that second set so I’ll go away now, prepare for tomorrow and be back again.
“There were a few games with break points and at one point I thought it was going to go the other way. He’s a great player and hits the ball big. I know it well here, which I think was a big advantage.
I know where the wind is going to be coming from and I think that just about got me over the line.”
Up next for Lapthorne is Robert Shaw, who defeated fourth seed Koji Sunego in their quarter-final clash on Thursday.
For more information on the LTA’s British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships click here
