Lapthorne gets revenge over Davidson at British Open

By James Reid

Andy Lapthorne got his revenge over Heath Davidson with victory in the men’s quad singles quarter finals at the LTA’s Lexus British Open Roehampton Wheelchair 2024.

Lapthorne lost out to the Australian in the final at Eastbourne last week, with Davidson coming from behind to win 3-6 6-0 6-2.

But Lapthorne righted those wrongs by winning 6-3 1-6 6-2 in Roehampton and book his place in the semi-final.

Rain blighted the contest during the second set and Lapthorne revealed it worked to his advantage after finding himself in a rut.

“It was a bit of a mental battle there to say the least,” he said. “I am not afraid to say the rain probably saved me there.

“Heath, I know from last week it’s never over after a set against him. He came back last week, I was in a really tough spot there in the middle of that second set mentally and luckily for me the rain came and I managed to regroup and come out on the right side.

“Especially when you are 40-0 first game, 15-40 second game, your mind starts to wonder and that was part of the battle.

“The rain came at the perfect time for me. I managed to get off and stick to the game plan. It’s not easy conditions out here today, it’s pretty cold, it’s a soft court, so it is going to be tough for all the players out here. I am just pleased to get the win.”

Lapthorne was the only Brit to progress in the men’s quad singles, with qualifier Gary Cox losing 6-3 6-1 to Ahmet Kaplan and Greg Slade going down 6-0 6-4 to world No.2 Niels Vink.

However, there was victory for Gordon Reid, who booked his place in the men’s singles quarter-finals with a 6-3 6-0 win over Daniel Caverzaschi, while Alfie Hewett joined him with a straight sets 6-2 6-4 triumph over Maikel Scheffers.

“It has been quite a busy period so far being at Queen’s and Eastbourne but I got out of the blocks quite quick, it was a really strong first set,” said Hewett. “The second set was tighter, Maikel definitely played a lot better and I was just happy to get a win.

“When the first set goes as well as that it can be frustrating to not just do it again. It wasn’t the same level from my end but a big part of that was what Michael was doing.”

Reid and Hewett will be joined by Dahnon Ward, who beat compatriot Robert Teague 6-2 6-2 however there was defeat for Andrew Penney, who lost 6-0 6-3 to Ruben Spaargaren.

The women’s singles saw a valiant effort from wild card Abbie Breakwell, as she pushed former French Open finalist Momoko Ohtani to three sets before eventually losing 6-1 3-6 6-2.

There was also defeat for Lucy Shuker, who fell 6-1 6-2 to Zhu Zhenzhen

For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website