Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/560492
WHEELING INTO At this year's BNP Paribas World Team Cup Britain's men won the World Group title for the first time, while it was business as usual for the Dutch women's champions, says Marshall Thomas. U ntil 2013, an often-repeated question in a British sporting summer was, 'when will a British man win Wimbledon again?' While Andy Murray answered that question two years ago, another Scot, Gordon Reid, sealed a further piece of British tennis history in May when the world No. 3 won the crucial rubber that brought Great Britain a first-ever men's BNP Paribas World Team Cup World Group title in Antalya, Turkey. Reid went into the 30th anniversary edition of the ITF's flagship wheelchair tennis team event as the highest-ranked men's player after Shingo Kunieda returned to Japan on the eve of competition with a broken tennis wheelchair, and Stephane Houdet withdrew due to injury. Nevertheless the draw produced an enthralling set of match-ups, with Great Britain in the same pool as Argentina and Belgium, which pitched Reid against Gustavo Fernandez and Joachim Gerard, the two players ranked immediately below him at No. 4 and No. 5. Reid lost his opening singles match to Fernandez, but thereafter he and 17-year-old junior world No. 1 Alfie Hewett won all of Britain's singles rubbers in remaining contests against Belgium, Japan and defending champion France. Hewett beat former world No. 1 Michael Jeremiasz 75 61 in the final, and France's sequence of three successive men's titles came to an end as Reid secured a 2-0 victory by defeating Nicolas Peifer 76 62. For Hewett, who led the Great Britain junior team to the junior title in Antalya in 2013 before missing last year's event due to exams, it was quite an achievement. "Making the transition from juniors to seniors and still being able to perform on this stage, it's a very special moment," he said. Great Britain's participation in the men's event began in 1986, the first year that the World Team Cup featured a women's event and a first title for Netherlands. This year, Netherlands relied on just two of its four Top 10-ranked players to spearhead a challenge that ultimately ended with a 28th women's title in 30 years. WHEELCHAIR TENNIS The Netherlands women's team with a familiar prize The victorious British men lift the World Group trophy Aniek van Koot on her way to victory Japan's Shota Kawano made USA work hard in the quad final