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Wheelchair tennis star Bailey relishing all-British clash

Wheelchair tennis star Bailey relishing all-British clash

Kettering's Dermot Bailey warmed up for a quarterfinal showdown with fellow Brit Gordon Reid at the LTA’s British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships in Nottingham by charging past Pakistan’s Asif Abbasi.

Bailey, who competed at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, dispatched Abbasi 6-1 6-0 to march into the quarterfinals.

The 28-year-old, who was a semi-finalist at the 2019 Queen’s Club Championships and reached the last eight of the same tournaments in 2021, admitted he was satisfied with his performance but believes he needs to go up a gear to challenge Reid.

Bailey knows he will face a stiff challenge facing Reid, who is looking to bounce back from defeat alongside Alfie Hewett at Wimbledon in the wheelchair doubles, in what would have been the duo’s 11th consecutive Grand Slam title.

“I made it harder for myself than it needed to be, I think I could have played better,” said Bailey.

“It’s still a win and the scoreline is quite good, which shows I handled the key moments in the game well.

“I now need to work on a couple of bits before I play Gordan – I know that.

“I think I have only ever played Gordon once before but we have hit together loads of times. It will be interesting that is for sure.

“I recently played in the Czech Republic, and I have had a couple of weeks off just preparing and training for this event.”

For more information on the LTA’s British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships click here