30 September 2018 | Tennis ACT

Yusuke Nishimura (JPN), Janine Watson (Qld), and Finn Broadbent (Vic) have claimed the singles titles at the Canberra Wheelchair Tennis Open today at the Canberra Tennis Centre.

Unseeded Nishimura capped off a dominant few days in the capital, recording a 6-1 6-3 victory over second seed Henry de Cure (SA).  The former world No.27 also took out top seeded Keegan Oh-Chee (NSW) and fourth seed Martyn Dunn (Vic) on his way to the title.

Despite the convincing scoreline, Nishimura was pleased with the victory.

“Against Henry, he is a very good player, it was a very tough match for me.”

In the women’s singles final, top seeded Watson showed her experience defeating 16-year-old Hayley Slocombe (NSW) 7-6(5) 6-2 in a high quality affair to claim back to back titles in Canberra.

For Watson, the past two years has seen her rise rapidly up the rankings with her sights set on Tokyo 2020.

“I was picked up by the Australian Paralympic Committee at a talent search about two years ago.  I’m actually on the Australian taekwondo team, and at that stage I wasn’t eligible for Tokyo 2020.

“Within three months I’d won my first Australian title, playing for two years and I’m now Australia’s highest ranked female, ranked 81 in the world.  In the last six months I’ve been able to get classified for taekwondo, so my goal is to make Tokyo 2020 for both sports.

Slocombe then returned to the court to take on Broadbent in the junior singles final.  It was top seeded Broadbent who emerged victorious with a 6-2 6-1 victory.

After today’s win, Broadbent is focusing his attention on the National Championships later this year.

“The next couple of months, I’ll be back to training hard, ready for Nationals in early November, I can’t wait for that.”

In the men’s doubles top seeded Oh-Chee and De Cure defeated Nishimura and Daniel Jeffery (NSW) 6-4 6-4, while Slocombe and Watson combined for a convincing victory in the women’s doubles over Samantha Gould (NT) and Trudi Lines (Qld).

Broadbent completed the double, combining with Oliver Pizzey Stratford (Vic) to defeat Slocombe and Sally Schwartz (Vic).

A free come and try wheelchair tennis session was also held on Sunday morning, encouraging new participants to get involved.

Rachel Sirr, Executive officer, Media and Communications for People with Disabilities ACT said the event was a great way to highlight the sport in Canberra.

“Wheelchair tennis is a fast moving, exciting and elite sport and shows how people with a disabilities can be elite world-class sportspeople and inspire others.”

“I’d encourage anyone with a disability to join People with Disabilities ACT. 65,000 people have some sort of a disability in Canberra or one in three households. Membership is free and our voice is louder when we stand together.” Sirr added.