Twelve months ago Joachim Gerard and Shingo Kunieda both missed the NEC Wheelchair Singles Masters, Gerard as he continued to recover from being taken ill at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics and Kunieda as he rested after winning the men’s singles gold medal on home soil in Tokyo.

However, winners of seven of the last nine Masters finals, both players returned to the year-end championship on Sunday to produce their latest in a series of epic encounters on the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour.

“It means a lot. It was the first major event that I won and now I‘ve won it four times in seven participations,” said Gerard after beating world No. 2 and three-time champion Kunieda 4-6 6-2 7-6(5) in exactly three hours in Oss, Netherlands.

“It's always a pleasure to be here, especially this year because first I was out and now I’m in. It’s a long time since I beat a top three player so I'm very happy about that and I'm looking forward for the rest of the tournament.”

Three days ago world No. 10 Gerard only expected to be playing in the Doubles Masters in Oss, but the withdrawal of Nicolas Peifer means that it’s all change for the Belgian, who has lost a doubles partner but gained the opportunity to extend his collection of Singles Masters titles.

“For sure it gives a little bit more motivation (after not having been in the original field) because when you have the chance to compete at a tournament as big as the Masters you want to give everything,” added Gerard, who came from 3-1 down in the final set against Kunieda and originally served for the match when leading 5-4.

“Today I gave everything and I won. We will see the rest of the week. It doesn’t mean that I will win everything.”

Gerard was joined in gaining a first win in round-robin Group B by Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez, who opened his bid for a first Masters title by defeating Tokyo silver medallist Tom Egberink 6-4 6-4.

Defending champion Alfie Hewett and Masters debutant Tokito Oda won the opening matches in Group A, Hewett after defeating Martin de la Puente 6-4 6-3 and Oda after dominating the final set against fellow Japanese Takuya Miki to prevail 6-2 4-6 6-1.

Griffioen outlasts Van Koot on Singles Masters return

Ten years after Jiske Griffioen won the first of her three NEC Wheelchair Singles Masters women’s titles, succeeding 14-time champion Esther Vergeer in the process, the 37-year-old made a winning return to the year-end championship after a six-year absence.

Griffioen retired after Wimbledon in 2017, but after launching her wheelchair tennis comeback in late 2019 and earning her place back inside the world’s top 10, the former world No. 1 came from behind to defeat Aniek Van Koot 5-7 6-4 6-1 in two hours and 15 minutes as she opened her latest Masters challenge.

“I love the group format; I love that you have round-robin matches first, because then the draw is not equally as important,” said Griffioen who also beat Van Koot when winning her first Masters final. ”You need three good matches and then if you're not through to the semi-final it's your own mistake, whereas a bad draw with the drop-off (knockout) system, it can be sort of tricky. I'm never really nervous before the draw when it's a round robin. But it's a tough draw. 

“Winning that match in three sets is really important. It sets the tone for the rest of the week, but on the other hand it’s just one win and crazy things have happened in the past in a pool. It's one win and it's a really good way to start the week and we just keep going from here.”

Griffioen is one of three former Singles Masters champions in women’s singles Group B, alongside 2014 champion Van Koot and 2013 champion Yui Kamiji. World No. 2 Kamiji also got off to a fine start, defeating world No. 7 Lucy Shuker 6-0 6-0.

Group A brought comfortable opening wins for Diede de Groot and Kgothatso Montjane.

Just over two years after her only career loss to date to Japan’s Momoko Ohtani, world No. 1 De Groot began her Masters title defence with a comprehensive 6-1 6-1 win over Ohtani. Meanwhile, Montjane won six games in a row to defeat Kgothatso Montjane 6-2 6-2.

‘Calmer’ Ramphadi wraps up winning Masters debut  

South Africa’s Donald Ramhadi is hoping that a new, calmer version of himself will continue to pay dividends after the world No. 6 won his first ever Singles Masters match, beating 11-time champion David Wagner 7-5 6-3.

Ramphadi, who has also made his debut at all four Grand Slam tournaments this season, came from 2-0 down in both sets of his match against Wagner to make it four wins in six matches against Wagner this season.

“It's exciting for me because it's one of the biggest tournaments that I've played this year and I’m looking forward to the next match” said Ramphadi, who won his first Grand Slam singles match at September’s US Open.

“I've been working on this new game that’s all about me being relaxed on court, being calm and without rushing, so I think I've executed that very well today. I'm really proud of myself.

“I've learned a lot this season, tactically. The (top) quad players are very, very tricky. Coming into this year I was a more aggressive player, hitting balls without thinking much, but now I'm working on that,” added Ramphadi, who helped South Africa’s quad team win their first World Team Cup silver medal earlier this season. “I'm working on my mental toughness. To see me go to the second round of the US Open, it was just unbelievable, and I'm very proud of how I played and I’m looking forward to going further in this one.”

Ramphadi was joined in making a winning Group A start by reigning champion Niels Vink, who eased past Brazil’s Ymanitu Silva 6-0 6-0. Ramphadi and Vink will now go head-to-head on day two on Monday, when the second round of quad singles group matches are the only singles contests on the schedule, as the ITF Wheelchair Doubles Masters matches begin.

Vink’s fellow Dutchman Sam Schroder wrapped up a 6-1 6-3 win over Singles Masters debutant Robert Shaw in Group B, which also saw Heath Davidson register an early win. The Australian won seven games in a row to lead British Open champion Andy Lapthorne 4-6 6-0 1-0 before Lapthorne was forced to retire with an abdominal strain.  

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