IT was just over a year ago that Gordon Reid said of Andy Murray: “I don’t know if he knows who I am.” Well, he certainly does now.
In truth, world No 2 Murray has known about Reid’s exploits for some time and he was on hand yesterday to congratulate the 24-year-old after he won his first Grand Slam singles title with a brilliant victory at the Australian Open.
Reid’s 7-6, 6-4 victory over the big-serving Belgian, Joachim Gerard was just reward for an outstanding week which began with victory over the world No 1, Shingo Kunieda and ended with a hard-fought win over the biggest server in wheelchair tennis.
Reid’s singles victory was celeb- rated with both arms in the air and after the on-court presentation, Reid was greeted by the Murray brothers, Andy and Jamie, who had been following his progress.
“They were in the locker room when I came in after the final and were delighted for me,” Reid said. “Big congratulations. First time I met Andy and Jamie was really only a year or so ago because it takes a couple of times being around guys like that before you have the confidence to approach them. But since then they’ve been really good to me, given me loads of encouragement.”
Reid was a good junior player but at the age of 12, he was struck down by a rare spinal disease, Transverse Myelitis, which forced him into a wheelchair. Like so many of the wheelchair players, Reid’s story is one of sheer dedication and in a sport with very little prize money relative to the main events, it is a constant struggle to get to this point. Victory yesterday will help with that and already well established in the world’s top five, and with now three Grand Slam doubles titles to his name, Reid’s first Grand Slam singles crown elevates him to the elite of the game and he is already thinking of what might lie ahead.
“It’s a big year now,” he said. “We’ve got Roland Garros, we’ve got singles for the first time at Wimbledon, which will be special. To be the first Wimbledon wheelchair singles winner would be a nice title to have to my name, then there’s the Olympics, which has always been a huge goal of mine.”
There was disappointment later, though, when he and Kunieda lost the doubles, squandering a 5-0 lead in the decider to lose 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 to France’s Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer.
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