Quarter-finalists decided at 2015 World Deaf Tennis Championships
Two British partnerships progress through to the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles event on day three (Wednesday 22 July) of the World Deaf Tennis Championships 2015 in Nottingham.
The men’s singles quarter-finalists, mixed doubles quarter-finalists and women’s doubles semi-finalists were all decided on day three (Wednesday 22 July) of the 1st World Deaf Tennis Championships at Nottingham Tennis Centre, with two British partnerships advancing to the last eight of the mixed doubles.
Lewis Fletcher and Beth Simmons beat French duo Maxime Sanchez and Lucie Boulestreau 6-2, 6-4 in the second round of the mixed doubles and go on to face the third seeds, American brother and sister duo Daniel and Emily Hangstefer, who won the silver medal at the 2013 Deaflympic Games in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Fletcher and Simmons are joined in the last eight by Jack Clifton and Bethany Brookes (pictured), who had a walkover in their scheduled second round match against the Russian fifth seeds Egor Panyushkin and Anastasia Chumak. Clifton and Brookes will now face German top seeds Urs Breitenberger and Heike Albrecht, the 2008 and 2012 European champions and 2013 Deaflympics mixed doubles gold medallists.
Lewis Fletcher said:
'I’m very happy to come through comfortably today in straight sets, especially after our match was switched to inside courts due to the rain.
'It was a great way to end the day after the disappointment of going out of the men’s singles.'
All of the top eight men’s seeds are through to the quarter-finals after they each won their last 16 matches in straight sets. They include 2013 Deaflympics silver medallist and reigning European champion Mikael Laurent of France. Who won the closest of the matches in the last 16, fending off a strong challenge from Daniel Hangstefer.
British hopes of a singles medal ended when 12th seed Peter Wilcox slipped to a 6-1, 6-4 loss to German seventh seed Sebastian Schaffer. Schaffer will now play second seed Laurent, while 2013 Deaflympic gold medallist and European silver medallist Gabor Mathe of Hungary will face sixth seed Breitenberger.
Austria’s Mario Kargl, the bronze medallist at the last Deaflympics in 2013, Australia’s Glen Flindell and Russia’s Egor Panyushkin complete the men’s quarter-final line-up.
Meanwhile, the USA, Chinese Taipei and German medallists in the women’s doubles at the Deaflympics in Sofia in 2013 are all through to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles. Along with Spanish sisters Beatriz and Raquel Villamandos-Lorenzo, who are the 3rd seeds in Nottingham.
The Championships are organised by the Tennis Foundation, in association with UK Deaf Sport. To further support the event and increase awareness of deaf sport, UK Deaf Sport are producing fully accessible video updates for each day of competition at the Championships. Here's a round up of the action from day three.
Click here to catch up on all the tennis action from day one and two at the 1st World Deaf Tennis Championships.
Day four of play on Thursday 23 July will include the start of the World Deaf Youth Tennis Championships, featuring boys’ singles and girls’ singles competitions. The event includes Brits Esah Hayat, Toby Clifton and Phoebe Suthers.
Thursday’s action will also feature the men’s and women’s singles quarter-finals, the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles and the quarter-finals of the men’s doubles. Jack Clifton and Fletcher carry British hopes into the last eight of the men’s doubles.
More than 70 players from 20 countries are taking part in the 1st World Deaf Tennis Championships. The event is sanctioned by the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD).
Photo credit: Tennis Foundation
