It was a first-ever Grand Slam for Samuel, who enjoyed a dream senior debut on the world-famous grass courts as he and men’s doubles partner Connor Thompson beat Pedro Cachin (Argentina) and Yannick Hanfmann (Germany) 7-5 6-3 on Thursday.

Weather delays meant they had to wait four days for their second-round match against number five seeds Santiago Gonzalez (Mexico) and Edouard Roger-Vasselin (France), which was played on No 2 Court.

Samuel and Thompson, who both play college tennis at the University of South Carolina, produced some excellent tennis on the big stage before their vastly-experienced opponents eventually came through 6-3 7-6(4).

It was a second Wimbledon for fellow Team Bath Tennis player Barnett but a frustrating one as she suffered two first-round exits in one afternoon on Court 6.

Barnett and partner Olivia Nicholls didn’t begin their ladies doubles campaign until Friday and they faced a last-minute change of opponents due to Veronika Kudermetova’s singles commitments.

They instead faced Brazilian duo Ingrid Gamarra Martins and Lidziya Marozava, who hit the ground running and quickly won the first set 6-0.

Barnett – coached by Ian MacDonald at the Team Bath Sports Training Village – and Nicholls rallied in the second set, earning an early break, but they couldn’t capitalise on it and were beaten 6-0 6-3.

There was more frustration a couple of hours later as Barnett returned to Court 6 with Julian Cash for a mixed doubles first-round match against Croatia’s Nikola Mektic and Bernarda Pera of the United States.

The British duo lost the first set 6-4 but hit back to win the second on a tie-break and went a break up in the third. Mektic and Pera responded immediately, though, and went on to edge a decisive tie-break 10-7 to secure a hard-earned 6-4 6-7(5) 7-6(7) victory.

Liam Broady, who is coached by Team Bath Tennis coach David Sammel, produced arguably the biggest shock of the tournament as he beat Norwegian fourth seed Casper Ruud 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-3 6-0 during an incredible second-round match on Centre Court. His run was ended by Denis Shapovalov the following day.

Visit teambath.com/tennis to find out more about how Team Bath Tennis supports professional players on the circuit and youngsters aspiring to reach the top level.

With thanks to Team Bath

It is a challenging draw for the Brits against the number 9 seeds for the tournament, with Kudermetova having reached the final with Elena Vesnina on her last appearance at the All England Club in 2021.

The match is scheduled to be played when the doubles competitions get under way on Wednesday (5th July).

It is a second successive Wimbledon for Barnett, from Painswick in Gloucestershire, and Nicholls – Britain’s leading women’s doubles partnership – who reached the second round on their debut in 2022.

Barnett, coached by Ian MacDonald at the Team Bath Sports Training Village, will also contest the mixed doubles, an event in which she reached the quarter-finals last year.
Visit teambath.com/tennis to find out more about the tennis programme at the University of Bath, including indoor and outdoor court bookings.

With thanks to Team Bath

The Australian pairing of Matthew Ebden and Samantha Stosur, who had beaten the number one seeds in the previous round, proved to be too strong as they recorded a 6-3 6-1 victory on Court 2.

However, it was another tremendous experience for Barnett – coached by Ian MacDonald at the Team Bath Sports Training Village – who got to play five matches on the world-famous grass courts during her debut Grand Slam championships.

As well as reach the second round of the women’s doubles with Olivia Nicholls, only losing out in a third-set tie-break, Barnett also enjoyed a brilliant mixed doubles competition with O’Mara which included an incredible 18-16 tie-break victory over Jamie Murray and Venus Williams in the second round on Sunday.

“It’s been insane, absolutely insane,” said Barnett. “I didn’t have any expectations going into Wimbledon, I just wanted to appreciate time on court and I have to say I’ve loved every minute of it. I think that’s reflected in the performances.

“It’s been a privilege to play in front of a home crowd, especially in my first Grand Slam, and have so many friends and family and the support from Team Bath has been brilliant.”

The indoor and outdoor courts at the University of Bath that Barnett trains on are available for public hire throughout the year. Visit teambath.com/tennis/play to find out more.

With thanks to the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight

The duo, in their first-ever Grand Slam competition, won the first set against Nadiia Kichenok (Ukraine) and Raluca Olaru (Romania) but it was the Number 15 seeds who eventually progressed 3-6 6-4 7-6(10-5) after more than three hours on Court 8.

The tone was set during an eventful first set that lasted 54 minutes and saw Barnett – coached by Ian MacDonald at the Team Bath Sports Training Village – and Nicholls win the opening game, then force five break points on Olaru’s serve but not be able to take them and instead find themselves a break down in the following game.

The Brits quickly hit back and were leading 4-3 when there was a five-minute pause in play as Kichenok left the court. Barnett and Nicholls didn’t let that interrupt their rhythm, though, and they went on to gain another break before serving out the set.

The drama continued in the second set as Barnett and Nicholls were broken in their first service game but immediately hit back and had three chances to break for a second time. Unfortunately they couldn’t take them and were broken in the next game.

Finding themselves 5-2 down, the battling Brits saved two set points on Nicholls’ serve before, with Kichenok serving for the set, they broke back thanks to a brilliant Barnett volley at the net. That gave them a chance to get back on level terms but an untimely double-fault on set point meant it was Kichenok and Olaru who took it 6-4.

An enthralling match got the epic decider it deserved as the third set, which lasted 87 minutes, saw Barnett and Nicholls again hit back from an early break to lead 4-3 and serve for a 5-3 advantage, only for their opponents to respond again.

The set went to a tie-break where Kichenok and Olaru’s competition experience eventually saw them come through 10-5 but Barnett and Nicholls could be mighty proud of their performances on their Wimbledon debuts.

Visit teambath.com/tennis to find out more about the tennis programme at the University of Bath, including public hire of the indoor and outdoor courts.

With thanks to the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight 

Barnett, coached by Ian MacDonald at the Team Bath Sports Training Village, and Nicholls produced a brilliant performance on Court 6 as they beat the vastly-experienced duo of Kaia Kanepi and Renata Voracova 6-1 4-6 6-2.

Rain delayed the start of the match for two hours but the Brits – playing at their first Grand Slam event – showed no signs of nerves and quickly found their stride, rattling off the first five games on their way to taking the first set.

The second set was more closely contested, with Barnett and Nicholls being broken for the first time before immediately hitting back. It remained with serve until an epic 10^th game when, after going to deuce five times, Kanepi and Voracova finally forced another break to take the set 6-4.

Estonian Kanepi and Czech Voracova, who have played in 87 Grand Slam women’s doubles competitions between them, had a chance to go an early break up in the decisive set when they went 40-0 up on Barnett’s serve.

However, the Team Bath Tennis star kept her nerve superbly to hold serve and the Brits rode that momentum to grab a break in the next game. They now firmly had the initiative and went on to take the set 6-2, sealing an impressive win.

It continued an excellent season for Barnett and Nicholls, which has included a biggest success of their careers to date – winning the W60 Bellinzona title on clay in Switzerland – and reaching the Lyon Open final in France on their WTA Tour debut. That saw Barnett achieve a career-high world doubles ranking of 100 earlier this month.

Visit teambath.com/tennis to find out more about the tennis programme at the University of Bath.

With thanks to the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight

Broady, who is coached by David Sammel, will be making his fourth appearance in the men’s singles draw at SW19 having made the second round in 2015. He also faced Andy Murray and Milos Raonic in 2016 and 2018 respectively.

Murray Sharan – coached by Ian MacDonald at the Team Bath Sports Training Village – played in the women’s singles at Wimbledon in 2013 and 2014, taking on Maria Sharapova on Court 1 on her last appearance.

Both have been given doubles wild cards too, with Murray Sharan partnering Naiktha Bains and Broady teaming up with Ryan Peniston – the latter duo are competing at Queen’s Club this week.

Broady, who was a singles finalist and doubles champion at Wimbledon during his junior career, is delighted to be back on the grass courts.

“My whole year is preparation for Wimbledon, it is my favourite tournament on the planet,” he said. “It’s home and it is tennis at the end of the day. It’s where tennis players want to perform and it’s where I want to put my best game on the court.”

The indoor and outdoor tennis courts at the Team Bath Sports Training Village are available for the public to book, including pay-as-you-go customers, and coaching sessions are also under way for the summer term. Visit www.teambath.com/tennis to find out more.

Courtesy of the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight 

Sunday’s final saw Shuker contest her first Grand Slam final for five years, partnering Germany’s Sabine Ellerbrock in the Ladies Doubles final.

After successive straight sets semi-final defeats over the last four years in the Wimbledon doubles event, Shuker and Ellerbrock defied the odds to defeat Dutch second seeds Marjolein Buis and Aniek van Koot 3-6-4, 6-4 in this year’s semi-finals. That win saw Shuker playing some outstanding tennis, while her renowned attitude and determination was very much reflected in her partnership with Ellerbrock.

In the final, the duo pushed eventual champions and top seeds Diede de Groot and Yui Kamiji in the vast majority of games, something not reflected in the 6-1, 6-1 score line against a pair who are the world’s top two ranked singles players.

Speaking after the match, the British No.1 said “For me I’ve been longing to be in a final again for a long time at the Grand Slams, and to do it at Wimbledon is unreal. It’s humbling to be here and it’s an honour. I knew that it was going to be really tough playing against Yui and Diede because they are the number one seeds and they are very strong. Making the final was really great – it’s a shame we couldn’t get the win but they deserved it today”.

Shuker, who was injured in a motorcycle accident shortly after her 21 birthday, is the most physically impaired athlete among the world’s top 10 ranked women of a sport that she says has “transformed my life”, telling the BBC’s Claire Balding after the match, which was screened live on BBC2, “wheelchair tennis has given me the opportunity to realise so many dreams, it really is amazing”.st

Buoyed after reaching her first Grand Slam final for five years, she is relishing the opportunity to once again challenge barriers and perceptions at next week’s British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships in Nottingham. At that event the Britain will partner Dana Mathewson of the USA in the women’s doubles, as well as seeking success in the women’s singles. She returns to Nottingham on the back of winning the mixed doubles title at last year’s Super Series event.

Looking ahead to the event, Shuker said “It will be a totally different surface back on the hard court, which for me in singles will be a lot easier with the movement. Obviously we haven’t got long before we are competing, just one day so it will be tough. I think my tennis is going really well and I feel confident so I’m looking forward to it.’

Shuker’s achievement in reaching her first Grand Slam final since the 2013 Australian Open was part of much wider Brit success at Wimbledon this year, with Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid completing a hat-trick of Gentlemen’s Doubles titles. Meanwhile, Andy Lapthorne was on the winning side of the net in the first-ever quad doubles match to the be staged at Wimbledon after the Londoner partnered American David Wagner to an historic exhibition match win in the journey of a sport that is continually breaking new barriers.

All of the Wimbledon wheelchair tennis finalists will be among the world’s top players heading to Nottingham for the British Open. Since 1995 the tournament has had Super Series status, making it one of the sport’s six most important tournaments outside of the Grand Slams.

Tickets for the event at Nottingham Tennis Centre are being made available free of charge by the Tennis Foundation, with the tournament already set for a record crowd as the Nottingham public embrace the opportunity of seeing the Wimbledon stars in action.

The British Open takes place from from 17 – 22 July. – www.tennisfoundation.org.uk/BritishOpen

Courtesy of the Tennis Foundation

Jordanne Whiley (Photo: Tennis Foundation)

Whiley’s win caps a successful tournament for wheelchair tennis in this country following the Men’s Doubles victory by Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid on Saturday, coupled with record courtside crowds and high-profile exposure for the sport on the BBC.

Whiley and Kamiji came back from a set down against the Dutch pair of Marjolein Buis and Diede de Groot to pull off an astonishing 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory.  The Dutch second seeds and Rio silver medallists took control of the first set and looked on their way to the title before the defending champions broke early in the second set and went on to level the match.

Whiley and Kamiji, who had not played together for a year after illness and injury had kept the Briton out of the sport, appeared to grow in confidence with every point.  They levelled the tie at a set apiece before some phenomenal tennis blew their opponents away in the decider to seal a famous win in front of yet another big crowd on Wimbledon’s Court No.3.

The win, Whiley’s 50th doubles title of her career, was the pair’s fourth Wimbledon Ladies’ Wheelchair Doubles title in a row.  It also saw Whiley reach legendary status within the sport as she equalled Peter Norfolk’s record for a Briton of 10 wheelchair tennis Grand Slam titles.

After lifting the trophy, Whiley said: “I can’t believe it, I really didn’t expect us to get through the semi-final, because I’ve been out for quite a while this year, so to actually win it today, it’s a dream. It makes it more special than the other three [Wimbledon titles].   “To be honest I was only thinking about winning a fourth Wimbledon title.  It’s only just dawned on me that I’ve won 10 Grand Slams now and equalled Pete Norfolk, so I’m really happy to make it into double figures.

“With it being live on the BBC I hope there will just become more and more supporters of wheelchair tennis and people wanting to play the sport.  Anyone interested should contact the Tennis Foundation to find out where they can play, and maybe get on a Tennis Foundation camp, as that’s where I started all those years ago.”

Hewett and Reid (Photo: Tennis Foundation)

Meanwhile on Saturday Brits Hewett and Reid retained Wimbledon wheelchair tennis doubles title in thrilling final.

Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid followed up their history-making achievement in 2016 to become the first Brits to retain the Wimbledon men’s doubles wheelchair tennis title.

In a thrilling contest, Hewett and Reid defeated Rio Paralympic gold medallists Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer of France in a final set tie-break for the second successive year, completing a glorious 6-7(5) 7-5, 7-6(3) victory after two hours and 55 minutes of sporting theatre on Court No.3.

“When the match goes like that and you win 7-6 in the third it makes it even more special,” said an emotional Hewett. “The French had us in an absolute battle out there. There were never any easy points, which is what you expect against the Paralympic champions. We had to work for every single point.

“It’s amazing to have been on Court No.3. I don’t think wheelchair tennis has had that kind of coverage before and especially before the rain the stadium was absolutely packed out. When you get the coverage and the support like that and British winners, too, it hopefully makes more and more people want to get involved with the sport at all levels and engage with the Tennis Foundation’s expertise and resources to develop and promote the sport.

“A series of momentum shifts in the opening set saw Hewett and Reid reel off four games in succession for a 4-2 lead. Despite coming from 5-2 down in the eventual tie-break it was not quite enough and Houdet and Peifer snatched the lead.Rain forced the players off court at deuce in the second game of the second set, but Hewett and Reid came out firing on all cylinders on the resumption, taking a 4-0 lead before eventually forcing the decider.

Hewett and Reid went a break up midway through the final set and both Brits served for the match before top seeds Houdet and Peifer managed take the contest to another tie-break. However, Reid eventually forced the vital error with a drop shot and Peifer could not return the ball, giving the Brits back-to-to back Wimbledon titles.

“We were prepared for a hard match and that’s what we got, so it’s amazing to have retained the title,” said Rio Paralympic singles gold medallist Reid. “The crowd support out there all the way through was better than we could have hoped for. I just hope people will have seen the amazing standard of tennis out there and how much everyone here enjoyed it, as well as the people watching at home on TV, and that that can just continue to raise the profile of the sport and grow the sport as well, because it’s a fantastic sport.”

Geoff Newton, Executive Director of the Tennis Foundation, said: “This year’s Wimbledon Championships have not only delivered yet more Grand Slam silverware for the British players that are part of the Tennis Foundation’s World Class Performance Programme, but they have served as an incredible platform to showcase the sport of wheelchair tennis.

“I’d like to thank the All England Lawn Tennis Club for their role in helping to grow the sport so significantly over recent years.  To get such tremendous exposure on the BBC as well as having record numbers of people watching the finals on a show court can only help us in our aim to get more disabled people picking up a racket and realising tennis can be for them.

“We’d like to congratulate Jordanne, Alfie and Gordon on their success and thank them for what they do to inspire others.”

The Tennis Foundation is Great Britain’s leading tennis charity.  Its vision is to make tennis a sport which is inclusive and accessible to all, and works to open up tennis to its priority audiences of disabled people, young people in education and people in lower socio-economic communities – making it possible for them to enjoy the many health and social benefits of the sport whilst maximising their personal potential.

Anyone interested in finding out more about disability tennis, or learning about the wider work of the Tennis Foundation and how you can support it can visit www.tennisfoundation.org.uk or get in touch with the charity via info@tennisfoundation.org.uk.

Report courtesy of the Tennis Foundation

Shuker kept pace with Japan’s world No.1 Yui Kamiji early in their ladies’ singles quarter-final before Kamiji broke in the sixth game and the Australian Open and Roland Garros champion went on to record a 6-3, 6-1 win.

Meanwhile, Whiley showed tremendous fighting spirit in her women’s singles quarter-final against Dutch world No.3 Diede de Groot. Whiley, a singles semi-finalist in 2016, came back from 5-1 down to force a second set tie-break and saved three match points before de Groot eventually won 6-2, 7-6(4).

Whiley and Kamiji start their bid for a fourth successive Wimbledon ladies’ doubles title on Friday against Dutch top seeds Jiske Griffioen and Aniek van Koot. Whiley and Kamiji have played Griffioen and van Koot in the last four Wimbledon finals and became the first pairing to complete a hat-trick of ladies’ doubles wheelchair tennis titles last year.

Shuker partners Germany’s Sabine Ellerbrock in the other ladies’ doubles semi-final as they take on Dutch second seeds Marjolein Buis and de Groot.

Meanwhile Alfie Hewett reaches his first Wimbledon wheelchair tennis singles semi-final.

History-maker Alfie Hewett reached his first Wimbledon wheelchair tennis singles semi-final when he opened his campaign for back-to-back Grand Slam singles titles with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Nicolas Peifer of France on Thursday.

Nineteen-year-old Hewett, who became the first Brit to win the men’s singles title at Roland Garros last month, recovered well after dropping the opening set to world No.5 Peifer on the grass. The world No.6 broke the Frenchman’s serve to love to open up a 5-2 second set lead on his way to forcing the decider.

Hewett missed the opportunity to go 3-0 ahead in the final set but soon took a commanding 5-1 lead and closed out victory with a forehand smash for his first Wimbledon singles match win after an hour and 34 minutes. “I came here this week focused on achieving my first singles match win on the grass at Wimbledon and so I’m really happy to have done that after a tough match today,” said Hewett.

”I know I’ve come here as Roland Garros champion but I’m only thinking about preparing for the next match. But after today I can feel confident for the semi-finals and I expect another tough match against Gustavo.”

Hewett now plays Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez in Friday’s semi-finals in a rematch of last month’s Roland Garros final. Hewett came from a set and 2-0 down to win the title at Roland Garros, a performance that has since seen him being voted International Paralympic Committee Athlete of the Month for June.   He keeps alive hopes of a second successive Wimbledon men’s singles title for a player on the Tennis Foundation’s Wheelchair Tennis World Class Programme after last year’s inaugural champion Gordon Reid bowed out to 2016 runner-up Stefan Olsson of Sweden.

Reid was unable to produce the kind of performance that resulted in his historic Wimbledon victory over Olsson last year and Sweden’s world No.7 advanced 6-2, 6-3 to set up a meeting with Japan’s Shingo Kunieda. Hewett and Reid begin the defence of their men’s doubles title on Friday against Fernandez and Kunieda.

Report courtesy of the Tennis Foundation

Shuker is one of four Brits on the Tennis Foundation’s Wheelchair Tennis World Class Programme playing at the third Grand Slam of the year this time, along with Gordon Reid, Alfie Hewett, and Jordanne Whiley.

Shuker arrives at The Championships with recent grass court success behind her after reaching the women’s singles final and winning the women’s doubles with Dutchwoman Diede de Groot at last week’s inaugural Surbiton Wheelchair Tennis Tournament.

Shuker was runner-up to world No.3 de Groot in singles. “Having the event at Surbiton was a great initiative by the Tennis Foundation to provide players the extra opportunity to play on grass. It gave me some valuable match time in singles and doubles and I feel pretty confident for this week.” said Shuker.

“I started 2017 by taking Diede to three sets on two occasions, I beat Marjolein Buis (world No.6) at the Australian Open and I’ve beaten Aniek van Koot (world No.4) twice. So I’ve had some really good results against the top girls, which is really exciting, but you have to be the better player on the day. Every match that gets drawn is going to be a tough match as it’s the top eight that qualified and all I can do is go out there, enjoy it and do my best.”

Jordanne Whiley (Photo: Tennis Foundation)

Shuker met Jordanne Whiley in all-British ladies’ singles first round contest in 2016. Whiley, the 2015 US Open champion, will bid to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for the second successive year when she plays Dutch world No.3 de Groot on Thursday.

“Wimbledon is my favourite Grand Slam and I’ve got lots of super memories from the last few years, so obviously I want to do well and I’ll be giving it my all,” said Whiley. “I’m really excited to be playing back here with Yui in doubles, too. We’re not seeded this year as my ranking’s dropped, but we’ll be doing our best to get that fourth doubles title.”

Whiley and Kamiji made history in 2016 by becoming the first partnership to win a hat-trick of Wimbledon ladies’ doubles wheelchair tennis titles.

As they are unseeded this year the reigning champions face top seeds Jiske Griffioen and Aniek van Koot in the semi-finals after playing the Dutch duo in each of the last four Wimbledon finals.

Shuker and Germany’s Sabine Elllerbrock also face all-Dutch opposition in the other semi-final when they take on second seeds Marjolein Buis and de Groot.

Reigning champion Gordon Reid faces Stefan Olsson of Sweden in a rematch of last year’s men’s singles final when wheelchair tennis begins at The Championships, Wimbledon on Thursday.

The 25-year-old made history in 2016, winning the inaugural Wimbledon wheelchair tennis men’s singles title.“I’ve got great memories of last year and the home British crowd were a huge part of that. Hopefully that can only get better and better as the profile of wheelchair tennis goes up and up and I’m really looking forward to experiencing that again,” said Reid.

“I went to the Australian Open this year as defending champion, so have that experience to draw on as defending champion here and I’m excited to get started. All matches at a Grand Slam are tough.”

Reid is drawn in the opposite half of the draw to fellow Brit and Roland Garros champion Alfie Hewett.

Hewett, 19, plays Nicolas Peifer of France in his bid to reach the semi-finals and goes into the contest having won four of his last six matches against Peifer. “I’m focussed on one match at a time and really want to get my first singles win on the grass at Wimbledon, so I’m really looking forward to playing Nico.

“Overall I’ve got a good record against him and won our last match in May and beat him on the way to the Paralympic final in Rio,” said world No. 6 Hewett, who will begin his third Wimbledon having been named International Paralympic Athlete of the Month for June after winning his maiden Grand Slam singles title in Paris last month.

As well as Reid bidding to defend his title in the men’s singles, Hewett and Reid also go into Wimbledon this year as reigning men’s doubles champions. They begin their title defence against Gustavo Fernandez of Argentina and Shingo Kunieda of Japan.

“Doubles is going to be another tough opening match but me and Gordon are really up for defending our title and, again, are taking it a match at a time,” added Hewett.

Report courtesy of the Tennis Foundation