Edinburgh based Ruairi Logan can be very pleased with his British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships in Nottingham at the beginning of August. The 15 year old retained his British Open boys singles title with a comfortable 4-0, 4-0 win against Northern Ireland’s Ross Gourley in the final and then added the mixed doubles crown alongside fellow Scot Ellie Robertson, recording another comprehensive 4-0, 4-0 victory.
It was a busy few days for the Broughton High School pupil as he also competed in the main draw for the first time, claiming a victory on his debut. The former Lothian Disability Sport (LDS) Young Person of the Year, a recent recipient of the Jim Anderson OBE Bursary at the LDS 2017 Awards, recorded a first round victory against Pakistan’s Asif Abassi, winning the tie 6-3, 6-3. This triumph then provided the young Scot with an opportunity to take on a fellow GB player Alfie Hewett – a player ranked number 4 in the tournament. The experience shone through as current French Open and Wimbledon doubles Champion Hewett recorded a 6-0, 6-0 victory over the young Scot, as it became evident the pace, power and intensity required to succeed at the very top of the game. However the young Englishman reserved praise for Logan, stating “Ruairi played some really good points and has a bright future ahead of him.” Praise indeed from Hewett who would eventually lose in the final 6-4, 6-3 against Argentina’s number one seed Gustavo Fernandez. It is imperative to Ruari’s continual development that he is able to secure more match-time against this elite group of players and this experience will no doubt leave him wanting another crack at this level.
The week also saw Logan team up with French partner Guillaume Legendre in the main draw of the male doubles. The duo received a bye and progressed immediately into the Quarter Finals where they were convincingly beaten by Joachim Gerard (Belgium) and Stefan Olsson (Sweden) 6-0, 6-0 who were then beaten by eventual winners Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer of France.