Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/441551
24 ITFWORLD WINTER 2014 london smiling Aniek van Koot, Shingo Kunieda and David Wagner settled comfortably into the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters' new home in London, taking the year-end singles honours. Mark Hodgkinson reports. WHEELCHAIR MASTERS Y ou don't necessarily have to wear your game face: great things can happen when you smile between points. If you're like Aniek van Koot, smiling on court will make you giggle, that laughter will make you feel relaxed, and you'll soon find yourself playing with more poise and purpose. If ever a tennis player grinned their way to victory it was when van Koot scored her first title at the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters, the season-ending tournament restricted to the best players in the world, and held in London in 2014 for the first time. Along the way, the Dutchwoman faced plenty of adversity — she staved off three match points in her semifinal against Britain's Jordanne Whiley, and in the title match she came from a set down to defeat countrywoman Jiske Griffioen. But her response wasn't to scowl or to screw up her face in concentration, but to look for all the world as if she was enjoying herself. "Against Whiley, I gave it my all, and it led to victory and I learned during that match just to enjoy it, and to keep smiling," disclosed van Koot. "Because that helps me to play better tennis." Earlier in the week, van Koot had lost in the round-robin stages to Griffioen. With van Koot taking a happier approach to her tennis in the final, the result was very different. "I can't believe it. Jiske beat me comfortably in the group stages — and by big scores — so I wasn't really expecting this at all," she said. This was a new home for the tournament, with the world's elite assembling at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, but it wasn't the first time that many of the players had competed there. This was a return to a venue that had been known during the 2012 Paralympics as Eton Manor. As the Mayor of London Boris Johnson told ITFWorld, the Masters helped to "cement London's reputation as a home for sport" and to continue the legacy of the Paralympics. "Athletes like these will inspire people who have had an accident in their lives or who for some reason or another are in a wheelchair," he said. "They will be inspired to think differently about themselves — they will think that they have the potential to be great athletes." It was interesting to note that all three champions at the Masters — men's champion Shingo Kunieda, women's winner van Koot, and quad champion David Wagner — had arrived on site with good Aniek van Koot celebrates winning her first year-end title