Tag: Australian open

10/02/2025

Anna McBride Aces Three Consecutive Wins in Australia

By William Moncrieff, Communications Coordinator

Anna McBride continues her fantastic run of tennis, taking the title at the Australian Open (AO) 2025 Intellectual Disability Championships (24-26 January).

It’s the third time that the Australian Open has hosted the annual Intellectual Disability (ID) Championships and Deaf Championships, providing opportunities for players from, “diverse backgrounds to compete at an international level”.

“The Australian Open is my favorite event, the stuff we get access to and the way we are treated is really good”, said Anna.

Furthermore, the Scot has an unbeaten singles record in Melbourne.

“I’ve won the singles three times in a row and the doubles twice before. I came second this time.”

“For me, winning feels incredible, because to win once is an achievement but to win three times is really cool.”

Anna believes that one of the possible reasons for her continued success at the Australian Open is down to the standards of play. “I love playing against the best players because you want to compare yourself against the best. It’s all the top players in the world, there are no easy matches.”

Performing against world class players is not an easy feat. Anna explained how it took her a couple of matches to get into the tournament. “The first match I was a little bit nervous. I played my way into the event and by the time I played the final I felt really good.”

However, coming up against a familiar face in the final assured her that she had the ability to make it three in a row: “I played a French girl called Eva Blanc in the final, I played her in September, I won but it was a 3 set match, but this time I won 6-1 6-1, so I was super happy about that.”

Despite the intensity of the event, there was still time in Melbourne to connect with friends, including teammate and Young Persons’ Sport Panel member, Aidan Moody.

Anna said: “Me and Aidan had a great time in Australia. We are really good friends.”

“I just love the experience we get, and to win the whole thing feels incredible.”

Aidan said, “Playing at the Australian Open for a second time was an amazing opportunity and experience for me, and a challenge to test myself against the world’s top players in Learning Disability tennis.”

He continued to say: “As it was my second time I felt more relaxed and confident, and was excited to show how my game has progressed. This time I managed to reach the semi-finals in the men’s singles beating the world No 6 from Australia. This was a huge win for me and I was really proud my hard work and preparation had paid off. In the doubles me and my partner, Olly from GB, retained our runners up position losing out to a very strong pairing.

“I absolutely loved playing on the Grand Slam courts again and being treated as a professional. One morning Jannik Sinner was training 2 courts down from me at the National Tennis Centre! I was also lucky to watch the Australian No1, Alex de Minaur, on the Rod Laver court – the atmosphere was fantastic that night.

As well as the tennis, it was great meeting up with friends I have met at other events. It was a memorable and amazing trip for us all,” concluded Aidan.

Close up photo of Aidan Moody hitting a tennis ball

Along with spending time with friends, accomplishing three in a row in front of family will be a fond memory for Anna, who commented, “I love it. Obviously they want the best for me, they’re always happy when I do well, they are really supportive of me. Obviously we have a great time after tennis, we try not to make it all about tennis.”

Moving forward, Anna is looking at how she can continue to progress and perform at the highest level, commenting that she would, “want to keep playing in the GB set up.”

She is also eager to continue her winning streak in Australia: “I would love to play in the Australian Open next year if I get invited back. It’s really good fun, I just love it really.”

If you would like to find your passion for sport, contact your Regional Development Manager. Alternatively, to take part in a range of sports and activities in one location, register for one of Scottish Disability Sport’s (SDS) Parasport Festivals.

To keep up-to-date with all things disability sport across Scotland, follow Scottish Disability Sport on Facebook, Instagram and X.

27/01/2025

Gordon Reid Wins Sixth Straight Australian Open Title in Wheelchair Doubles

The victory alongside Alfie Hewett brings Reid’s Majors tally in doubles to a record 26 titles.

By Paul Morrison

Scotland’s Gordon Reid was victorious once again in Melbourne as the tennis legend clinched a sixth consecutive Australian Open title in the wheelchair doubles event.

Gordon sealed the championship on Friday (24th) morning with long-time doubles partner Alfie Hewett, defeating the pairing of Daniel Caverzaschi and Stephane Houdet in straight sets.

The championship saw Gordon earn his 26^th Grand Slam title in men’s doubles – extending his lead in the all-time records – while it also serves as the 22^nd major that the British duo have won together.

The Australian Open success extends the pair’s unbeaten start to the 2025 season in doubles, following last week’s Melbourne Wheelchair Open win.

Following the win, the 33-year-old Scot said that, “Never accepting and expecting to win and always trying to push ourselves” is the key to their success.

Gordon was also in action in the men’s singles tournament at the Australian Open as the 2016 champion defeated Belgium’s Joachim Gerard in the first round before falling to fourth seed Gustavo Fernandez in a tight quarter-final contest.

Coming into the doubles tournament as top seeds and five-time defending champions, Gordon and Alfie began their title defense in the quarter-final by quickly dispatching of Japanese duo Daisuke Arai and Takuya Miki 6-2, 6-0 in a one-sided contest that lasted just over an hour.

The semi-final saw the British duo face Martin de la Puente and Ruben Spaargaren from Spain and the Netherlands. While facing a tougher test against their opponents to reach the final, Gordon and Alfie battled through to win the match in straight sets, with a single break being enough to take both sets.

Fans in the UK would have to wake up in the early hours of Friday morning to watch the duo compete in the final of the year’s first Grand Slam as they played Spain’s Daniel Caverzaschi and France legend Stephane Houdet at the KIA Arena for the chance to win their sixth Australian Open championship in a row.

Caverzaschi and Houdet took an early 2-1 lead in the first set after breaking Gordon’s service game before a 30-minute burst of form saw the British pair win five straight games to take the first set 6-2.

The second set started in identical fashion when Gordon’s serve was broken again to trail 2-1 before an instant break back saw the set go back on serve at 2-2. Gordon and Alfie struggled to get in front through the second set, unable to hold a break on Caverzaschi’s serve as Gordon lost his service game once more to keep the set level at 4-4.

Leading 5-4, the British pair applied pressure in the crucial game of the set and after some unforced errors by their opponents, Gordon and Alfie sealed the title by breaking serve in a tense game to seal another trophy in their prestigious careers.

In the post-match press conference, Gordon gave his thoughts of what drives the pair to continue creating history within wheelchair tennis and winning more tournaments, saying: “I think the key thing is just never resting on where we are and never being happy with our level, our performance, and always trying to improve.

“No matter which title we’ve won or which number it is, we always go back and review it and see where we can improve and get better.”

Alfie completed an Australian Open double as he took the title in the men’s wheelchair singles final, beating world number one Tokito Oda on Saturday (25th) morning.

There was more British success as Andy Lapthorne became champion in the quad wheelchair doubles in Melbourne for an eighth time.

Gordon will look to continue the early success in 2025 when he competes in February’s ABN Amro Open in Rotterdam.

(Source for quotes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba6eUKmmuUI&pp=ygUbZ29yZG9uIHJlaWQgYXVzdHJhbGlhbiBvcGVu)

19/10/2024

YPSP member, Aidan Moody, Adds to Tennis Medal Collection

By William Moncrieff, Communications Apprentice

Last month Aidan Moody, a current member of Scottish Disability Sport’s Young Persons’ Sports Panel, found himself competing in a tennis tournament in Annecy, France.

“The tournament was really good. It was the VISTUS World Tennis Championships. Loads of different countries were there and I was there representing Great Britain.” Sai Aidan, who was competing in both the singles and doubles with his partner Olly.

“I had four other players in my singles group. A French person who was number 4 in the world and an Australian who was a former world number 1, so I knew the group was going to be really tough”, said Aidan.

Although he knew it was going to be a challenge to make it out of his group, he was motivated to cause an upset. He came ever so close to achieving this when he took on the French player and narrowly lost, 6-4. Despite the loss, it was a performance that he was extremely proud of

He put up a good fight throughout the tournament, to finish in 9th place overall. He said, “After losing to the two seeds in my group, I went on to win all my other singles matches, making it to the consolation 9/10 play off final, winning 6-3 against Australia.”

“I think it was an achievement to get into the top 10, and I am happy with how I played.”

In the double’s tournament, the pair clawed back to take the win against the home favourites, winning 6-2. Their winning momentum continued and they quickly found themselves in the semifinals. Although Aidan and Olly were unable to secure a spot in the final, they were successful in sealing bronze.

“Managing to get a bronze was really good, we were both really happy with that”, said Aidan.

With his tournament following the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, Aidan was really motivated to play well. “I was supporting Gordon Reid who is also Scottish and was competing in Paris. It was really exciting and motivating.”

He continued to say: “Learning Disability Tennis isn’t currently at the Paralympics but they are having talks to get it there. Fingers crossed that one day I can make it there which would be really cool.”

Now that the dust has settled on the Championships in Annecy, Aidan can reflect on his overall performance.

“We kept playing really well [in the doubles]. The communication was really good and I think we are just a really good partnership to be fair.”

“We also competed in January at the Australian Open. We partnered there and were the runner ups and then we got bronze in France. It’s been a really good partnership so far, so I would definitely like to keep it going.”

Aidan Moody standing on the tennis court in Australia, holding his trophy after winning the tournament — Aidan Moody standing on court holding his trophy at the Australian Open, earlier this year

Aidan is now really excited for his next steps in the game. “I’ve got more experience now and it’s made me hungry to keep on going, working hard and just keep coming back with a positive mindset.”

The future is looking very bright. All the best of luck, Aidan!

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