Andy Lapthorne claimed his fifth Australian Open quad doubles title on Thursday when he partnered American David Wagner to a 6-3 6-3 victory over Paralympic gold medallists Dylan Alcott and Heath Davidson.
The Eastcote-born wheelchair tennis star added to his burgeoning trophy cabinet as he and Wagner beat the home favourites in Melbourne.
Two successive breaks of serve at the end of the first set and a sequence of four games in a row at the start of the second set putting them in command.
“I’m so pleased to win my fifth title here,” said Lapthorne, who finished 2016 as year-end world number one quad doubles player before Wagner moved above him earlier this month.
“Beating the Paralympic gold medallists is a very special feeling and I think I go back to world number one in the quad doubles rankings now.”
Lapthorne still has the chance of reaching the quad singles final too, despite a 6-4 6-1 loss to world number one Alcott in their round-robin match earlier on Thursday.
After beating Wagner in his opening singles match on Wednesday, Lapthorne now plays Davidson on Friday. The top two players after the completion of the round-robin matches will go forward to Saturday’s final.
This post was last modified on 26/01/2017