Vink 'feeling perfect' as he races to opening win in Orlando
In between returning home from the US Open in mid-September and heading back to the USA for this week’s NEC Wheelchair Singles Masters and UNIQLO Wheelchair Doubles Masters in Orlando, Niels Vink has continued to live life at quite a pace.
Celebrations at home in the Netherlands to mark his doubles gold and singles bronze medals at the Tokyo Paralympics and similar success at the final Grand Slam of the year in New York have included a parade around the pitch at his local football stadium in Helmond in an open-top Porsche and a return to his school for a welcome reception in a chauffeur-driven Ferrari.
However, while Vink may have a liking for fast cars, it was his own propulsion and skill that saw him race to the first set 6-0 against Andy Lapthorne on the second day of quad singles round-robin competition at the USTA National Campus.
A brief drop in Vink’s level and a renewed focus from Lapthorne saw the second seed teeter on the edge of a 3-0 deficit at the start of the second set, but he soon regained the momentum and won the next six games to close out a 6-0, 6-2 victory that leaves him at the top of the Group B standings ahead of Koji Sugeno.
“The first set was incredible, one of the best sets I’ve ever played, I think. It was insane,” said world No. 2 Vink, who completed his victory with a forehand winner struck with the conviction of a player intent on improving on his runners-up placing on his Masters debut in 2019.
“The second set I started with a few unforced errors, but only a few errors,” Vink added with a smile. "Two years ago I was only 16 and I’ve improved my fitness levels since then. I’m feeling perfect.”
There’s a day’s break now before the third and last round of quad singles group matches decides the four semi-finalists, with world No. 5 Sugeno to be Vink’s remaining opponent after the Japanese player recorded a confidence-boosting 6-1 6-1 win over his doubles partner Kyu-Seung Kim.
In the time it took Vink to establish a 5-0 lead against Lapthorne, his countryman Sam Schroder had earned a 3-0 lead over 11-time Singles Masters champion David Wagner in Group A. Wagner fought back to take a particularly long sixth game and level the set at 3-3, while he also secured a 2-0 second set lead, but he was ultimately unable to match Schroder’s consistency and the world No. 2 took the win 6-3 6-3.
With eight players vying for the quad singles title for the first time this year, world No. 8 Bryan Barten contests his first Singles Masters. However, Barten goes into Wednesday’s last round-robin matches sitting at the bottom of Group A after a three-set loss to world No. 10 Ymanitu Silva. Silva dominated the first and third sets to defeat Barten 6-1 2-6 6-1.
The second round of men’s and women’s singles group matches takes place on the third day of play in Orlando, when the feature matches will include the latest meeting between world No. 2 and 2013 Singles Masters champion Yui Kamiji and world No. 3 and 2014 champion Aniek van Koot.
Ohtani and Zhu begin UNIQLO Doubles Masters bid in style
Momoko Ohtani and Zhenzhen Zhu are no strangers to causing upsets against higher ranked opponents as singles players – just ask world No.1 Diede De Groot, who lost her first three career matches against Zhu before a fourth loss in the 2020 Australian Open quarter-finals preceded a loss to Ohtani in the Roland Garros semi-finals later last season.
However, it was Ohtani and Zhu’s fledgling women’s doubles partnership that shone on the opening day of UNIQLO Wheelchair Doubles Masters round-robin group matches as they prevailed against the second seeds
The Japanese-Chinese pairing extended their unbeaten record as a duo to three matches when they beat Yui Kamiji and Saki Takamuro 6-1 6-4 in their first Group B match and they will now play Lucy Shuker and Dana Mathewson as they continue their attempt to add to their sole title to date, which they won in Chinese Taipei in 2019.
Elsewhere, the seven matches on the first day of Doubles Masters competition produced several one-side contests, including De Groot and Aniek Van Koot’s 6-0 6-0 win in Group A against Angelica Bernal and Maria Florencia Moreno.
That left the South American partnership still searching for their first Doubles Masters win after they made their debut in Orlando in 2019 and they will now hope to be able to rectify that when they next face Macarena Cabrillana and Kgothatso Montjane.
The third day of play in Orlando will include the first match of the week between two sets of Tokyo Paralympic medallists as Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid take on Tom Egberink and Maikel Scheffers. The Group A match-up comes on the back of Hewett and Reid beating American duo Chris Herman and Conner Stroud 6-1 6-1 in their first match, while Egberink and Scheffers defeated Alexander Cataldo and Casey Ratzlaff 6-2 6-3.
Group B began with three-time Doubles Masters champions Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer beating first-time partnership Dermot Bailey and Tokito Oda, while 2019 semi-finalists Ruben Spaargaren and Jef Vandorpe were awarded s victory by walkover ahead of their Group B contest against Gustavo Fernandez and Martin de la Puente, who had to forfeit their first match due to illness.
While Kim and Sugeno met in singles competition, they ended the second day of play united in victory as the 2019 quad doubles finalists raced past 2016 Doubles Masters champions Antony Cotterill and Lapthorne 6-1 6-2.
Meanwhile, the day’s other quad doubles group match featured the two partnerships that have won four of the last five Paralympic quad doubles gold medals between them as Tokyo champions Schroder and Vink wasted little time in defeating 11-time Doubles Masters champions Nick Taylor and Wagner 6-1 6-0.