NAME on the trophy. Gordon Reid is the owner of a unique piece of Wimbledon folklore this morning as the first-ever winner of the wheelchair singles championship at SW19. The Scot's name is the first to adorn that brand spanking piece of silverware after this comprehensive 6?1, 6?4 victory over Stefan Olsson of Sweden which saw him complete the clean sweep of the wheelchair events in South West London this year.
While there was a rare moment of hesitation as the 24-year-old from Helensburgh double faulted on the first of two championship points, he lost himself in emotional celebrations when Olsson netted one last return and the title was his. Winning here was something this talented able-bodied player had dreamed of ever since succumbing to transverse myelitis, a rare disease affecting the spinal cord, at the age of 12. Despite a couple of early morning rain delays, it was all done in time for him to get a seat on Centre Court for Andy Murray's date with destiny, just as he had done in 2013.
Reid marked the moment with the family and friends, many of whom had journeyed down from Scotland overnight for the occasion, and some of whom wore his trademark alice band in his honour. Already the 2016 Australian Open champion, and four times now a major doubles winner - most recently with his teenage English partner Alfie Hewett in the doubles here - next on his to-do list is returning from Rio de Janeiro as a double paralympic champion.
Reid took the title without dropping a set and his efficiency was all the more remarkable considering the Scot was to reveal that his bid for glory had been potentially jeopardised by some excessive partying near his base at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton. So concerned was Reid about the noise emanating from the nearby Bank of England sports ground that he was spirited away to another hotel.
"I've been staying at the National Tennis Centre the last two weeks," said Reid. "But there was a party on last night that went on till one in the morning. So I ended up moving hotels at 10:00pm last night and escaped the noise.
"It wasn't ideal," he added. "I didn't have a great sleep. I was obviously excited and had a few nerves but I can forget about all that now. Luckily I had Geraint Richards from the Tennis Foundation to help me out. It wasn' too bad - just 10 minutes down the road. A big comfy double bed. So I can't complain. As for tonight, I might not be staying at the National Tennis Centre. I don't know if they let you in there with champagne.
"I've got a lot of friends and family here and had unbelievable support today. There were cars full driving down last night. It was incredible to have them all here. I just can't wait to go and see them all and enjoy this with them."
The Scot is an impressive proponent for the wheelchair form of the sport, and said that every bit as important was the title and the prize purse of £25,000 was helping inspire other young children with disabilities to get involved. "This sport helped me so much in my recovery from my condition and in my life in general," he said. "It's helped me a lot. If this can help in some way, inspire more people, get more people playing, if it helps some other kids the same way it helped me, then that's just as special to me as winning the title."
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