Tennis Schedule Baked By Land Of The Roasting Sun

Tokyo’s brutal summer wreaked havoc on the schedule of the opening day of wheelchair tennis which saw Australia’s representation in the men’s open singles cut in half.

Five-time Paralympian Ben Weekes progressed to the second round, while debutant Martyn Dunn was knocked out on a trying day of delays due to extreme heat.

Weekes was too strong for Israel’s Adam Berdichevsky 6-4, 6-2, while Dunn experienced a torrid introduction to life as a Paralympian with a 6-0, 6-0 loss to Ezequiel Casco of Argentina.

The land of the rising sun became the land of the roasting, relentless sun, as play on the outside courts didn’t begin until 5pm local time, despite being slated for an 11am start.

Dunn was incredibly philosophical after copping a dreaded ‘double-bagel’, on a day which was hard on the most seasoned of campaigners, let alone a first-time Paralympian.

“My nerves were all over the shop. I was mentally ready to go at 11 o’clock but, you know, you can’t control that – I was just beaten by the better player and that’s all there was to it,” he said.

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Dunn’s serve broke down early against the Argentinian world no. 52, rolling in five double faults in his first two service games.

“I think I was 40-love up in that first service game and then I just mentally crumbled, and then the second service game, I was 40-15 up and again, mentally crumbled,” he said.

“I’m not used to this type of pressure, it’s a great learning experience.

“I feel like royalty. I never thought I’d be here five-and-a-half years ago but here I am experiencing the pinnacle of wheelchair tennis.”

Weekes overcame the trying circumstances to dispatch of Berdichevsky in an hour and 22 minutes.

The 37-year-old world no. 33 gave up a double-break in both sets, failing to serve out the first set in the eighth game, only to succeed in the 10th.

There were four breaks of serve in the 2nd set, but crucially, Weekes claimed the first two to establish the platform for a straight sets win.

“I would say that is a pretty typical Ben Weekes match – I like to keep it interesting,” he joked.

“At such a big event you are already nervous and then it kind of compounds like every extra hour you’ve got to wait to get out there,” he said.

Weekes will have a day off from the singles on Saturday but will be back in action, as will Dunn, in the first round of the doubles.

The Australians are drawn against Brazil’s Gustavo Caneiro Silva and Daniel Rodrigues.

Meanwhile, the Tokyo leg of world no. 1 Dylan Alcott’s quest for the fabled ‘golden slam’ begins with the commencement of the quad singles.

Having already claimed major singles titles at the Australian and French Opens, along with Wimbledon this year, the tennis world is watching to see if Alcott can achieve tennis’ holy grail, with the US Open to follow immediately after the Games.

The dual 2016 gold medallist holds a 6-0 win-loss record over his first-round opponent, Japan’s world no. 11 Mitsuteru Moroishi, while fellow Australian Heath Davison will take on Antony Cotterill of Great Britain.

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With the hot weather expected to continue, tournament organisers have pushed back the start of the schedule on the outdoor courts to 3pm local time (4pm AEST).

Play on the roofed centre court begins at 11am Tokyo time (Noon AEST).

Friday Results:

Men’s Open singles 1st round
Ezequiel Casco (ARG) def. Martyn Dun (AUS) 6-0, 6-0.
Ben Weekes (AUS) def. Adam Berdichevsky (ISR) 6-4, 6-2.

Saturday Schedule:

Quad singles 1st round
Dylan Alcott (AUS) (1) v Mitsuteru Moroishi (JPN) – 3rd on Court 1
Heath Davidson (AUS) v Antony Cotterill (GBR) – 3rd on Court 9

Men’s Open doubles 1st round
Weekes / Dunn (AUS) v Caniero Silva / Rodrigues (BRA) – 4th on Court 3

By: Paralympics Australia
Posted: 27 August 2021