Tag: tennis

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! 

Make to follow Scottish Disability Sport on Facebook, X and Instagram, as well as on the SDS website.

Gordon Reid playing wheelchair tennis. His eyes are following the tennis ball as it passes over the net

Gordon Reid Prevails with Alfie Hewitt in Entertaining Quarter Final Doubles Clash

The ParalympicsGB duo showed their class on the clay again with a straight set win to give them safe passage to the last four. 

By Paul Morrison 

There was more joy at Roland Garros this afternoon for Scotland’s Gordon Reid as he qualified for the men’s wheelchair tennis doubles semi final with teammate Alfie Hewitt. 

The pair were too good on the day for the Dutch duo of Ruben Spaargaren and Maarten Ter Hofte, getting the better of the seventh seeds 6-2, 6-1 on an atmospheric Suzanne-Lenglen. 

“It was really good. We came out firing right from the start, and we produced some of our best stuff at the beginning of the match”, said Gordon following the win. 

Gordon and Alfie will continue their charge in the doubles tomorrow afternoon in what promises to be a must-watch match against tricky opposition. 

The pair were once again off to a flying start as a quick break was followed by a strong service game from Gordon to hold an early advantage over the young Dutch players. 

Gordon and Alfie were experiencing more success with an aggressive approach to their play, which uncovered the cracks in Spaargaren and Ter Hofte’s game plan. This saw the Brits quickly find themselves 5-0 and giving the Scot a chance to serve for the set. 

Falling to complacent levels, the Dutch pair took the next two games where they won eight of the last 10 points at one stage. 

After regrouping well and finding their focus again, Alfie was able to serve out for a 6-2 lead and pushing the Brits halfway towards victory. 

The second set opened with a tense and engaging return game for Gordon and Alfie in a battle that went on for over 15 minutes that demonstrated a strong resilience from all players to rush and make every shot. This led to the Brits breaking which Gordon secured with a great showing on serve. 

The top seeds then slowly came through the next three games as winners with their effective attacking tactics, forcing the Dutch pair to overhit shots out of the court. 

In a repeat of the first set, Gordon was unable to serve the match out due to multiple errors as Spaargaren and Ter Hofte won a deserved game in the set. 

Any chance of a comeback was shut down right after though, with the victory being sealed on a fourth match point. An exciting match-up that was played in great spirits from all players proved to be a great contest for Gordon and Alfie. 

While the more experienced pair came out on top on the day, Spaargaren and Ter Hofte showed their quality and will carry on becoming a true force as a doubles team in years to come. 

“In the second set they raised their level and tested us a lot more. There were a lot of long games that we came out on top of, and it was a really good test going into the next match”, said Gordon. 

Gordon and Alfie will be back together tomorrow in the last four of the doubles event as they face the mission of getting passed the French pairing of Stephane Houdet and Frederic Cattaneo on Suzanne-Lenglen as the Brits will have their eye on avenging their losses in the gold medal match at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2016 Games at the hand of Houdet. 

“We’re just really excited to come up against them. It was one of our dreams before the tournament to come up against the local favourites. We’ve got big singles matches first in the morning to deal with, but once they’re over with, we’ll be ready to go”, commented Gordon. 

Gordon will have another busy day at Roland Garros as he is also first up on Phillippe-Chatrier to compete against Argentine maestro Gustavo Fernandez in the singles quarter final. 

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.

Frances Smiley, Alastair Ramsey, Jack Dickson, Ronan Cacace and Matthew Copley

National Tennis Tournaments

The National Tournament for players with a Visual Impairment, organised by the Tennis Foundation, was held on 15th & 16th October at the National Tennis Centre.

Three players who train with Glasgow Disability Tennis competed – Sam Howie, Laura Grant & Andrea Logan.

Results:

  • Sam competed in the B2 singles winning 2 of his 3 matches and he won the consolation event.  In the doubles he won 1 of 2 matches.
  • Laura competed in the B1 singles (mixed) winning 1 of her 3 matches.
  • Andrea competed in the B3 singles winning 2 of her 4 matches and 2 of 3 matches in the doubles.

This was a great opportunity for the players and a good start to their competition careers.  We look forward to following the results in 2017 for the West Visually Impaired Tennis players.

The National Tournament for players with a Learning Disability was held on 28th, 29th & 30th October at Wrexham Tennis Centre.

Six players who train with Glasgow Disability Tennis competed in this event.

Results:

  • Ronan Cacace – Singles Div 1 – 4th; Doubles Div 1 – 4th
  • Alastair Ramsey – Singles Div 5 – silver; Doubles Div 3 – silver; Mixed Doubles Div 1 – silver
  • Gregor Boyd – Singles Div 6 – silver; Doubles Div 3 – silver
  • Jack Dickson – Singles Div 9 – silver; Doubles Div 5 – gold; Mixed Doubles Div 2 – gold
  • Matthew Copley – Singles Div 10 – silver; Doubles Div 5 – gold
  • Lucy Porteous – Singles Div 2 – gold; MxD Doubles Div 2 – gold

Once again, the strength of the Tennis programme in Glasgow is showing at National level and GDT are delighted with the progress of the programmes and the players involved.  All have shown development over the past year and is testament to the coaching received through Glasgow Disability Tennis.

The AGM for Glasgow Disability Tennis is on Sunday 4th December at 6pm at the David Lloyd Centre in Renfrewshire.  All welcome.