Reid, Hewett and Whiley move closer to wheelchair tennis medals

Gordon Reid, Alfie Hewett and Jordanne Whiley all enjoyed victorious outings on a busy day of wheelchair tennis action at Tokyo 2020.

Reid and Hewett both prevailed in their respective singles matches before the Rio 2016 Paralympic silver medallists continued their bid for gold with victory in the men’s doubles.

There was also success for Whiley, who reached the women’s singles quarter-finals thanks to a comfortable second-round win at the Ariake Tennis Park.

It wasn’t to be for Lucy Shuker and Andy Lapthorne in their respective singles matches but the pair both have doubles competition still to look forward to in Tokyo.

Reid and Hewett met in the men’s singles final at Rio 2016, and the chance of a repeat is still alive after the two progressed to the quarter-finals.

Hewett required three sets to get the better of Ruben Spaargaren, with 6-1 2-6 6-3 the scoreline to beat the Dutchman and Frenchman Nicolas Peifer now lying in wait.

Defending champion Reid overcame home favourite Takashi Sanada 6-2 6-1 to set up a last-eight clash with fourth seed Gustavo Fernandez.

“He’s a very good player, tricky opponent, so to come away with a convincing scoreline and quite a quick victory, I couldn’t be much happier with the way it went,” said Reid.

“We’re top seeds in the doubles and we’ve had great success over the past couple of years so we’re the ones to beat in that.

“But in the singles, there are guys who are probably performing better and who are ranked higher than me, so it’s them with the target on their back.”

The top seeds then returned to the court later in the day to produce a 6-2 6-2 men’s doubles win over Belgium’s Joachim Gerard and Jef Vandorpe.

A semi-final against Sanada and Shingo Kunieda now awaits for the ParalympicsGB pair, safe in the knowledge that a win would guarantee them another Games medal.

“It’s the first time we’ve played tennis this late in the evening,” said Hewett. “There were moments where we switched off a little bit but, at the end of the day, it’s two wins and a good day at the office.”

Meanwhile, fourth-seeded Whiley needed just 52 minutes to get the better of Japan’s Manami Tanaka to reach the women’s singles quarter-finals.

Whiley, who is yet to reach the podium in the singles event having won two doubles bronze medals, was fully deserving of her 6-1 6-0 victory.

She now faces the United States’ Dana Mathewson on Tuesday for a place in the last four.

“I’m pleased, the last two times I’ve played her, the game has gone to three sets so I was determined not to do that tonight,” said Whiley.

“I want to conserve my energy as much as possible in this heat, so I was focused and I played well so I’m pleased.

“I’ve got eyes on the prize, when I’m on court I’m there to do business.”

Doubles partner Shuker didn’t enjoy the same luck, however, going down 7-6(2) 6-2 to seventh seed Zhu Zhenzhen of China.

But the two still have doubles action to contend with, with Shuker facing off against Zhu once again, as well as Wang Ziying.

In the quad singles event, Lapthorne was unable to get the better of Niels Vink as his singles competition came to an end at the hands of the Dutchman, 6-4 6-1.

But an important match lies in wait with Lapthorne and doubles partner Antony Cotterill set to contest the bronze-medal match later in the week.