PETER Norfolk and Andrew Lapthorne became the first all-British pairing to win a Camozzi Wheelchair Tennis Doubles Masters title on Sunday in Palazzolo, Italy, writes MARSHALL THOMAS.
The British pair came from a set down to beat American top seeds and defending champions Nick Taylor and David Wagner 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 in the quad doubles final.
Meanwhile, Lucy Shuker and Jordanne Whiley finished runners-up in the women’s doubles after their second narrow loss in four days to Dutch top seeds Aniek van Koot and Sharon Walraven.
Lapthorne and Norfolk could never quite recover from falling 5-2 behind in the first set of the quad doubles final, but the British duo upped their performance in the second set to level the match for the loss of just the second game of the set.
The final set saw the American duo go a break up at 3-2, only for Lapthorne and Norfolk to break straight back and then save three more break points to establish a 4-3 lead.
A combination of some fine serving and strong ground strokes subsequently helped the Britons to clinch the match after winning four straight games, Norfolk hitting an ace on match point to seal his third Doubles Masters title since 2003 and a debut victory for Lapthorne.
After also beating Taylor and Wagner in their second round-robin pool match on Thursday, it was Lapthorne and Norfolk’s fourth win over the double Paralympic champions since January 2009.
In the women’s doubles final Shuker and Whiley held a slender 5-4 first set lead against van Koot and Walraven, but the Dutch duo won the next three games and broke midway though the second set before wrapping up a 7-5, 6-3 victory, leaving Shuker to pick up runners-up honours at the Doubles Masters for the third time in six seasons.
With a record eight British players having qualified for this year’s Camozzi Doubles Masters, John Parfitt, Britain’s third player in the quad doubles, clinched third place on his debut in the prestigious event.
Parfitt and Dutch player Dorrie Timmermans beat Sweden’s Anders Hard and Antonio Raffaele of Italy 6-3, 6-4 in Saturday’s play-off for the minor placings.
Meanwhile, Britain’s Gordon Reid, Marc McCarroll and David Phillipson return home after final placings of sixth and eighth in the men’s doubles.
After Reid finished fifth on his Doubles Masters debut in 2009, the 19-year-old Scot found himself in the fifth and sixth place play-off again this year.
However, despite taking the first set Reid and Dutchman Tom Egberink were unable to match last year’s third placed team Frederic Cattaneo and Nicolas Peifer and the French duo prevailed 6-7(6), 6-0, 6-1.
McCarroll and Phillipson also ended their Doubles Masters debuts against French opposition, narrowly missing out to Frederic Cazeaudumec and David Dalmasso 6-4, 7-6(1).
