The wheelchair tennis star shined in Paris’ morning sun to continue from strong opening display yesterday
By Paul Morrison
ParalympicsGB’s Gordon Reid showed no signs of fatigue after playing two matches yesterday as the Scot put on a dominant performance to defeat Japan’s Takuya Miki in the third round of the singles competition.
Gordon comfortably booked his place in the last eight at Roland Garros after seeing off the ninth seed in just over an hour of action at Court 13.
The two-time Paralympic medalist in singles will return to action tomorrow in doubles before competing in the singles quarter finals on Wednesday (4th).
Speaking after the match, Gordon was pleased with how he handled the top 10 player, saying: “I knew it was going to be a step up in level from yesterday’s match but I think I responded well.”
Before the match, Gordon and Miki already had a long history of matches together. The Scot had won all 18 previous ties, dating all the way back to 2011.
Being their second match-up at the Paralympics after competing at London 2012, Gordon would be confident and determined to keep the win streak going after overcoming the Japanese player on clay at June’s French Riviera Open.
Gordon started sharp with a hold of serve to begin the match when he went from where we left off the previous day to get a quick break in over Miki.
Hitting some winners to hold onto a close game, the Scot inflicted another blow to his opponent to produce a strong break of serve to head 4-0.
After saving a couple break points to lead 5-0, Miki got one game back on his own serve which saw Gordon concede his first game on the singles tournament, following his 6-0, 6-0 victory over Suresh Dharmasena yesterday morning.
Gordon was forced to earn the first set in the next game as he came from saving more break points to fire a few winners and an ace to take the set 6-1.
An immediate break saw Gordon start to take control in the second set as he then routinely served out for 2-0.
A straightforward service game for Miki was then met by Gordon quickly brushing through three games on the spin as his winner count increased in a brilliant showing.
Gordon sealed the victory with a fifth break of serve that featured three winners as he made it 19 out of 19 wins over Miki.
“I controlled the majority of the match and really happy with my performance,” said Gordon while reflecting on his excellent display.
The Scot also praised the support from his family and friends in the crowd, commenting: “It’s great to have their backing and they came out with some good songs today so hopefully they can keep on driving me forward.”
Gordon will now play the fourth seed, Gustavo Fernández from Argentina, on Wednesday (4th) in the singles quarter final in what will be another big step up in difficulty for the ParalympicsGB star.
Before then, Gordon will be back on tomorrow afternoon in the doubles quarter final with Alfie Hewitt as they face the seventh seeds, Dutch pair Ruben Spaargaren and Maarten ter Hofte on one of Roland Garros’ top courts, Suzanne-Lenglen.
The Paris 2024 Paralympics runs from the 28th August – 8th September. You can follow all the action and find out how the 21 Scottish Para athletes get on by following Scottish Disability Sport on Facebook, X and Instagram, as well as on the SDS website. You can catch all the action on Channel 4. More information here.