24 September 2019 | Tennis ACT

Martyn Dunn and Kirsten Sharp have both won their maiden ITF titles at the GIO Canberra Wheelchair Tennis Open on Sunday.  Dunn beat local favourite Matthew Leggett in the final, while Sharp prevailed over Hayley Slocombe after a close round robin event.

Top seed Dunn was too strong for Leggett in the final, coming away with a 6-1 6-2 victory over the No.2 seed.  For Dunn it was a special moment, claiming his first victory.

“It feels good. I’ve put a lot of work over the last few years into my wheelchair tennis and its starting to pay off which is great.

“I’ve put the last few years of dedication in, a lot of time in to winning it and finally achieved it.  It feels like a huge weight off my shoulder winning a tournament,” Dunn said.

Dunn will now head to Sydney before competing in Thailand with Tokyo 2020 in his sights.

“The main goal is to make Tokyo 2020 which is the Paralympics. I need to keep winning, putting in the dedication that I’m doing and hopefully what I do talks for itself and I make it there,” Dunn said.

Dunn then combined with Leggett to claim the men’s doubles over Riley Dumsday and Danny Jeffery 6-3 6-2.  The win was Leggett’s first ITF title and the tournament has seen him hit a career high singles ranking of 148 and doubles of 128.

In the women’s draw, Sharp came out on top by a set after a three way tie between Slocombe and Sally Schwartz in the round robin event.  It was also the Canadian’s first ITF title with Sharp thrilled to come away with the win.

“I’m totally lost for words.  It’s very exciting, the last match I played was a good match, coming back from 6-1 down to win the second set was a lot of man power especially after a four hour rain delay and trying to get back into the match.  I just kept thinking tennis one point at a time, and here in Australia, really the tennis capital of the world, to do that was really exciting for me.”

Sharpe enjoyed her time in the capital and the welcoming nature of the Australian players.

“Everyone was super friendly and I just had a lot of fun getting in a lot of matches, round robin.  Getting to play different people, when you come from North America you end up playing the same people over and over again. I really enjoyed the level of the competition and getting to know everyone that was here,” Sharpe said.

Sharp will now head home and turn her attention to the Canadian nationals before heading to Mexico for a special tournament.

“There is a tournament in Mexico that I like to play, it’s run by a gentleman who was named one of the 50 most amazing people in the world by CNN and he donates back to people In Mexico with mobility challenges, so I usually try and bring some wheelchairs from Canada, gather them up and bring them down and help teach at the camp and then play at the ITF Futures there,” Sharpe said.

In the women’s doubles, Slocombe combined with Anyanka Mae Ibarra to edge out Sharp and Laura South.

Slocombe also won the girl’s singles with a three set win over Schwartz, while Riley Dumsday dominated the boy’s round robin event.

Full draws.