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Well, luckily everybody knows the tune by now and you can have been | :00:45. | :00:52. | |
humming along, there was silence on the opening titles. Welcome along to | :00:53. | :00:57. | |
an afternoon of tennis action unlike any other, four British players in | :00:58. | :01:00. | |
final two macro action, Andy Murray taking on the last Raonic on Centre | :01:01. | :01:11. | |
Court -- in Finals Day action. We have Heather Watson and Henri | :01:12. | :01:14. | |
continent in the Mixed Doubles and later on in the final of the women's | :01:15. | :01:19. | |
Wheelchair Doubles, Jordanne Whiley alongside Yui Kamiji. I am here at | :01:20. | :01:23. | |
Court 17, where there is a fair amount of uncertainty, because we | :01:24. | :01:28. | |
don't know yet whether it is going to get covered or not. Alfie Hewett | :01:29. | :01:35. | |
is alongside me. The new Wheelchair Doubles champion, alongside Gordon | :01:36. | :01:39. | |
Reid, who will see in the singles and Peter Norfolk, known as the king | :01:40. | :01:48. | |
of wheelchair tennis, the Quadfather. Alfie, congratulations, | :01:49. | :01:53. | |
talk us through yesterday and how you are feeling this morning. | :01:54. | :01:57. | |
Yesterday was a surreal day. I remember the previous night, I | :01:58. | :02:02. | |
didn't get much sleep at all, thinking about what it would be like | :02:03. | :02:06. | |
if I won and what it would feel like and then to win, it was an | :02:07. | :02:09. | |
incredible feeling and to do it in the way we did, in the third set | :02:10. | :02:14. | |
tie-break, having those match points, not getting them and taken | :02:15. | :02:17. | |
them the third time, it kind of made that moment even more special. So | :02:18. | :02:22. | |
going back to the hotel last night, it was just exhausting, I just kind | :02:23. | :02:28. | |
of went to sleep, really, because I didn't get much sleep the day | :02:29. | :02:33. | |
before, it was a long match and, so, yeah, enjoy the moment by myself. It | :02:34. | :02:38. | |
was a tense match because the French player they were up against, Peter, | :02:39. | :02:44. | |
came back strongly -- the French pair. It was a huge match and | :02:45. | :02:48. | |
Houdet, the number one in singles, has such massive court presence. But | :02:49. | :02:53. | |
Alfie Hewett and Gordon were amazing. Alfie particularly, he was | :02:54. | :03:02. | |
aggressive, fantastic, up and down and really exciting to watch. We are | :03:03. | :03:06. | |
hearing the players have been called out so we are hoping that play will | :03:07. | :03:10. | |
start very shortly because Gordon, your doubles partner, is coming out | :03:11. | :03:14. | |
to try and be the first-ever singles champion in wheelchair tennis at | :03:15. | :03:18. | |
Wimbledon, they have never had a wheelchair competition before. In | :03:19. | :03:22. | |
terms of recovery, Alfie, given the emotional physical and mental | :03:23. | :03:25. | |
roller-coaster you went through yesterday, how is Gordon and head | :03:26. | :03:29. | |
you think he will fare today? I think Gordon will have been smart | :03:30. | :03:34. | |
with what he did yesterday. What, making you do all the work? Not at | :03:35. | :03:39. | |
all, he played a massive part, but in the locker room, as soon as we | :03:40. | :03:43. | |
got back in, he was in the physio, doing his recovery stock, not on his | :03:44. | :03:49. | |
phone like me, looking at everybody tweeting me. He has been in this | :03:50. | :03:53. | |
situation before, he knows how to look after himself and I think today | :03:54. | :03:56. | |
will be a really tough match for him, Olsson is playing really well | :03:57. | :04:01. | |
recently, but I believe that he has got the confidence right now and I | :04:02. | :04:05. | |
think he will be fine. So Gordon Reid of Great Britain up against | :04:06. | :04:08. | |
Stefan Olsson from Sweden. Let's hear from Gordon, his thoughts about | :04:09. | :04:13. | |
this final. First of all, congratulations on the | :04:14. | :04:16. | |
doubles success. What is the emotion at the moment, still feeling on our | :04:17. | :04:22. | |
high? Definitely, it wasn't too long ago, the final, so feeling | :04:23. | :04:26. | |
fantastic. It is a massive occasion for us today, first time playing | :04:27. | :04:29. | |
together in a Grand Slam and obviously with a lot of home support | :04:30. | :04:34. | |
backing us, so to come out on top was an incredible feeling. You have | :04:35. | :04:37. | |
spoken to the number of people on a number of times about how special | :04:38. | :04:41. | |
Wimbledon is and how much it means, I guess, because it is a home | :04:42. | :04:46. | |
tournament. Yes, it is an event that pretty much everybody around the | :04:47. | :04:50. | |
world knows of, it is a tournament that is steeped in tradition, | :04:51. | :04:54. | |
something I grew up watching on TV. It is the one tournament that | :04:55. | :04:58. | |
everyone in the UK watches, in the summer, so to be here and be a | :04:59. | :05:03. | |
Wimbledon champion in the doubles with Alfie and also have the | :05:04. | :05:06. | |
opportunity to make it a double success tomorrow, it is an amazing | :05:07. | :05:12. | |
feeling. You had an amazing feeling here last week, though, didn't you | :05:13. | :05:15. | |
question mark when you were in the Royal box and the Sue Barker | :05:16. | :05:21. | |
announced you. -- didn't you? It has been a bit of a surreal week, | :05:22. | :05:25. | |
starting off in the Royal box and then being involved in the draw, the | :05:26. | :05:28. | |
first time there have been singles here, and then winning a couple of | :05:29. | :05:32. | |
matches, the first match, the Duchess was watching me. So it has | :05:33. | :05:38. | |
kind of been a crazy week so hopefully it can be a good ending | :05:39. | :05:42. | |
tomorrow. Of course, this is a massive year. Not only is it the | :05:43. | :05:47. | |
first time singles are in play at Wimbledon but it is Olympic year. | :05:48. | :05:50. | |
How much pressure do you think there is to succeed this year? Well, I | :05:51. | :05:58. | |
think there is maybe a little bit of pressure but when you are successful | :05:59. | :06:01. | |
and you are playing well and performing well, people expect you | :06:02. | :06:06. | |
to win more often, so I would rather be in that situation than losing | :06:07. | :06:09. | |
every match and nobody expected me to win at having no pressure. It is | :06:10. | :06:14. | |
a big year for us, this is a big event, having the singles here for | :06:15. | :06:18. | |
the first time and obviously looking towards Rio and the Paralympics, it | :06:19. | :06:25. | |
will be my third Games and definitely my best chance of coming | :06:26. | :06:28. | |
home with a medal, so this is good preparation for that. | :06:29. | :06:32. | |
And Gordon Reid has just arrived here on Court 17, Stefan Olsson as | :06:33. | :06:37. | |
well. Olsson came out with his headphones on. Gordon is switching | :06:38. | :06:41. | |
into his match chair, specially designed for wheelchairs tennis. | :06:42. | :06:45. | |
Alfie Hewett alongside me, you have spent more time with Gordon than | :06:46. | :06:49. | |
anybody in the last week. In terms of facing big occasions, what is he | :06:50. | :06:54. | |
like? Well, he is very calm and that showed a lot in our doubles match | :06:55. | :06:59. | |
yesterday. His presence on the court kept me calm at certain points | :07:00. | :07:03. | |
during that match, because I was a bit fiery yesterday, with it being | :07:04. | :07:08. | |
my first final. My intensity and my emotions were very high yesterday, | :07:09. | :07:11. | |
but this isn't the first time Gordon has been in the final this year. He | :07:12. | :07:16. | |
has been in the Australian Open and at Roland Garros as well, he has had | :07:17. | :07:20. | |
that experience, so I am guessing right now that he will be relaxed | :07:21. | :07:24. | |
and calm and that is when he plays his best tennis. How much does it | :07:25. | :07:28. | |
mean to him to have a chance to be the first-ever singles champion here | :07:29. | :07:32. | |
in wheelchair tennis? I know it means a lot to him. Just from | :07:33. | :07:38. | |
hearing him talk in the press conference yesterday and speaking to | :07:39. | :07:40. | |
me in person about it, I know that winning today would be a massive | :07:41. | :07:44. | |
thing for him. Peter, how much other part of the crowd play? There is a | :07:45. | :07:48. | |
big gang of friends and supporters, they were there for the doubles, | :07:49. | :07:53. | |
chanting his nickname. That will be a big factor. We have had the same | :07:54. | :07:58. | |
at the Paralympic Games. Here, I think the support will be massive | :07:59. | :08:02. | |
for Gordon and he will really get up for it. Obviously, Gordon will be | :08:03. | :08:06. | |
remembering very positively what happened in yesterday's doubles when | :08:07. | :08:11. | |
he and Alfie came back from 5-2 down in the deciding set. They took it to | :08:12. | :08:15. | |
a tie-break and this was the match point, finally converted on Gordon's | :08:16. | :08:21. | |
serve. The mistake from their French opponents and the celebrations were | :08:22. | :08:25. | |
a bit special. To be fair, he nearly broke my back, as you can see. I had | :08:26. | :08:31. | |
to tell him to get off. It was one of those where I had dreams of what | :08:32. | :08:35. | |
it would be like, whether I would cry, whether we would go in for hugs | :08:36. | :08:41. | |
or fist pump, I didn't know what would happen. We came together and | :08:42. | :08:45. | |
enjoyed the moment together as a team, because that is what we are. | :08:46. | :08:50. | |
That was yesterday. Today, obviously a different day for Gordon Reid and | :08:51. | :08:54. | |
a different challenge and a different style of play, singles | :08:55. | :08:57. | |
rather than doubles. Does he can to stay on the baseline in singles, | :08:58. | :09:03. | |
Alfie, or will we see him move up court? I think he will vary it a | :09:04. | :09:06. | |
lot. Gordon has got a very good touch with his hands, we saw it | :09:07. | :09:10. | |
yesterday with his drop shots and his volleys, so I wouldn't be | :09:11. | :09:13. | |
surprised if he does try and approach the net a lot more, | :09:14. | :09:18. | |
especially with it being a final. Coming into the net but that little | :09:19. | :09:21. | |
more pressure on Stefan Olsson and I think it could work in Gordon's | :09:22. | :09:26. | |
favour. What about Stefan Olsson, they have played plenty of times | :09:27. | :09:34. | |
before, Peter. They have, Peter has a better head-to-head, but you can't | :09:35. | :09:39. | |
take it away from Stefan, he does a lot of other sports, he was a | :09:40. | :09:45. | |
Paralympic gold medallist in London 2012, he has got a lot of history as | :09:46. | :09:49. | |
well, but conditions are a bit heavy, so I think it will be a bit | :09:50. | :09:54. | |
slow and very hard on them, on the muscles, because as soon as they | :09:55. | :09:58. | |
stop pushing, the Chair dies. It is not like on a hard court. On grass, | :09:59. | :10:05. | |
the natural slice that Gordon has got, is it even more effective on | :10:06. | :10:09. | |
grass than other surfaces? Definitely, one of the biggest | :10:10. | :10:14. | |
strength Gordon has is his slice and playing against him in training, one | :10:15. | :10:17. | |
of the best things about it is you don't know where it is going to go. | :10:18. | :10:21. | |
That is why I have struggled massively against him in the past, | :10:22. | :10:24. | |
you think he is going for a slice and then he drop shots you and he | :10:25. | :10:29. | |
has that technique where he can drop shot, slide it out wide or heat | :10:30. | :10:33. | |
through it. I think that is going to work massively in his favour today. | :10:34. | :10:37. | |
How important you think it is the profile of wheelchair tennis, for | :10:38. | :10:40. | |
yourself and Gordon, Jordanne Whiley, that this is here at | :10:41. | :10:48. | |
Wimbledon and at a court that... People are leaning in from court 16, | :10:49. | :10:51. | |
if we had a bigger court, it would be full. How much difference do | :10:52. | :10:58. | |
think it will make? It is massive for wheelchair tennis. You saw it | :10:59. | :11:06. | |
yesterday, training -- trending on Twitter, it was massive. I didn't | :11:07. | :11:09. | |
know how many people watching, it would have made me more nervous but | :11:10. | :11:12. | |
wheelchair tennis is a great sport and looking at the comments people | :11:13. | :11:16. | |
are making about it, we feel like we may be deserved to be on a bigger | :11:17. | :11:19. | |
court. I think we could attract more people. The sport is good, it is at | :11:20. | :11:27. | |
a good level, women's and men's. Yesterday, people climbing over the | :11:28. | :11:30. | |
fences and looking over the balconies. We can attract the | :11:31. | :11:35. | |
spectators and we work hard back in training and I think we would like | :11:36. | :11:40. | |
that chance to be on a bigger court. Alfie has put it so well, Peter, and | :11:41. | :11:45. | |
had you had the opportunity to play in a singles final at Wimbledon, it | :11:46. | :11:49. | |
would have been very special. How big moment you think this is? This | :11:50. | :11:54. | |
is the premier moment in the world, Wimbledon, you can't get any bigger | :11:55. | :11:57. | |
when you are talking about tennis. With all my other wins, this is huge | :11:58. | :12:01. | |
for Gordon, you can't take it away. Is just a massive stadium and | :12:02. | :12:05. | |
platform for wheelchair tennis to move on. It is wonderful for British | :12:06. | :12:11. | |
tennis, it is in a great vein of form at the moment, we have some | :12:12. | :12:15. | |
really good gold medal hopes, Grand Slams, it is fantastic to be here. | :12:16. | :12:21. | |
Peter, I will let you head back to the commentary box. Alfie is going | :12:22. | :12:27. | |
to stake back at stay courtside to support Gordon Reid. It is amazing | :12:28. | :12:33. | |
how many young people have turned up to support Gordon Reid. How old are | :12:34. | :12:39. | |
you guys? 12 and 11. Alfie, you are a bit of a hero for them, I suspect. | :12:40. | :12:44. | |
I don't know if I would go hero, but I would hope I am an inspiration to | :12:45. | :12:48. | |
them to get out there and play tennis. Tennis is one of the best | :12:49. | :12:53. | |
sports out there, I believe, and so to get as many people into tennis is | :12:54. | :12:59. | |
openly what I could do yesterday. You certainly did that winning the | :13:00. | :13:04. | |
doubles and you and everyone else will be hoping that everyone else -- | :13:05. | :13:12. | |
Gordon Cavallo sub. Let's hand you over to the commentary team. Peter | :13:13. | :13:18. | |
Norfolk will be there, alongside Nick Mullins. | :13:19. | :13:23. | |
MICK MULLINS Good morning everybody, what a day for the tennis players on | :13:24. | :13:28. | |
wheels, and here is one of the best. Gordon Reid, a left-hander, about to | :13:29. | :13:35. | |
embark on the third Grand Slam final of his year. He won in Australia, he | :13:36. | :13:41. | |
was runner-up in Paris, but this, because it is what it is, the most | :13:42. | :13:46. | |
special of them all, the first ever Wimbledon singles final. We have had | :13:47. | :13:52. | |
doubles here, we have been enjoying doubles here for over ten years now. | :13:53. | :14:01. | |
The men before the women, but for the first time, this is also, who | :14:02. | :14:07. | |
knocked out the favourite Uday in the final. The umpire is British for | :14:08. | :14:17. | |
this first Wimbledon singles finals. Olsson, the 29-year-old Swede, his | :14:18. | :14:24. | |
country's most successful player ever and like the Britain on the | :14:25. | :14:29. | |
other side of the net, he was a world junior number one in the early | :14:30. | :14:34. | |
days. Gordon Reid, 24-year-old Scot, from Glasgow, Britain's best men's | :14:35. | :14:40. | |
player right now, in the middle of a simply extraordinary week. Wimbledon | :14:41. | :14:43. | |
champion in the doubles yesterday with Alfie Hewett and maybe, maybe, | :14:44. | :14:49. | |
Wimbledon champion in the singles within the next couple of hours. And | :14:50. | :14:54. | |
he has the honour of getting this final under way. | :14:55. | :14:58. | |
UMPIRE: Ready, play. Wonderful return from Stefan Olsson, | :14:59. | :17:32. | |
who has been as high as number two in the world. Currently number | :17:33. | :17:36. | |
seven, Gordon Reid number three by now. Stephane Houdet and Joachim | :17:37. | :17:44. | |
Gerard ahead of him. Talking a lot about that backhand | :17:45. | :18:07. | |
slice from Reid in the build-up and he used it to good effect there. I | :18:08. | :18:13. | |
think we will see a lot more of that. Gordon will push him behind | :18:14. | :18:16. | |
the baseline and then. Any nerves there might have been | :18:17. | :18:39. | |
hopefully dissipated by now. You have been courtside, Peter, is a | :18:40. | :18:46. | |
little bit damp, how tough of the conditions right now? It is going to | :18:47. | :18:52. | |
be really tough. The few spots of rain. | :18:53. | :18:59. | |
And starts affecting their pressure is on the hand reins, and it is | :19:00. | :19:03. | |
blustery are not that one. -- rims. We could have done with whether they | :19:04. | :19:21. | |
had last year, but they have their tyres pumped up really high. | :19:22. | :19:32. | |
120, 140 psi, so they do not take in. | :19:33. | :20:06. | |
Admiring the background, Peter. I think we will see a lot more of that | :20:07. | :20:16. | |
undercut slice from Olsson. Keeping the ball really low. | :20:17. | :20:28. | |
And he wins his first game to love. The ball really coming off, the | :20:29. | :20:41. | |
drizzle land damp in the air not helping the ball. It is really | :20:42. | :20:46. | |
skidding off, there is not much time to react. It is going to be a tough | :20:47. | :20:55. | |
little match coming up. Unless the sun pops out, hopefully. | :20:56. | :21:12. | |
Lots of you will have enjoyed wheelchair tennis for years but one | :21:13. | :21:19. | |
or two might be churning of the first time. Pretty much the same | :21:20. | :21:23. | |
rules as able-bodied tennis. -- tuning in. Exactly the same. The one | :21:24. | :21:32. | |
difference you will have noticed is the ball is allowed to bounce twice. | :21:33. | :21:37. | |
First bounce within the confines of the court, the second bounce can be | :21:38. | :21:41. | |
anywhere. But generally the top players will try and take it off the | :21:42. | :21:43. | |
first bounce. That will give your opponent less | :21:44. | :21:47. | |
time. Two good serves across the body | :21:48. | :22:26. | |
falls. -- of Olsson. How did he do that? Goodness me. I | :22:27. | :23:28. | |
was going to say it was out. Boomerang. | :23:29. | :23:32. | |
Like a baseball pitch. Ridiculous. Deuce. | :23:33. | :23:41. | |
He must have been watching the football, bend it like Beckham. | :23:42. | :24:13. | |
Talking a lot about the challenges of sitting around on this surface, | :24:14. | :24:20. | |
but it is that much harder particularly going backwards. As | :24:21. | :24:27. | |
soon as they let go of the chair on a hard-coded travels but not on | :24:28. | :24:32. | |
grass. Gordon got caught out trying to spin out of | :24:33. | :24:42. | |
And there is no leader to this, they come straight from clay onto grass. | :24:43. | :24:48. | |
They have been practising up the road at Roehampton. On the grass | :24:49. | :24:54. | |
courts and the National tennis Centre and there has been a | :24:55. | :24:57. | |
concierge about having a couple of lead up tournaments perhaps next | :24:58. | :24:58. | |
year. -- conversation. This is the first time they have had | :24:59. | :25:36. | |
singles here at Wimbledon so this could be historical. Olsson in the | :25:37. | :25:41. | |
end with the angle that won it with Reid de behind the baseline. That | :25:42. | :25:47. | |
was good tennis from Olsson. -- deep behind. He took out world number one | :25:48. | :25:49. | |
Stephane Houdet in the semifinal. Break point for the Swede. He knows | :25:50. | :26:26. | |
what it feels like to be a Wimbledon champion, doubles winner in 2010. | :26:27. | :26:29. | |
Lots of experience. Now the breeze picking up. You will | :26:30. | :27:00. | |
notice Olsson at the far end on the move. | :27:01. | :27:10. | |
The wind coming across as well, taking the ball, they are going to | :27:11. | :27:21. | |
have to be more careful. The wind going across more than it is going | :27:22. | :27:22. | |
down. Tricky. Calm and collected, top-spin | :27:23. | :27:51. | |
forehand into the space. It looks like they are coming off. We had | :27:52. | :27:59. | |
been warned... Ladies and gentlemen, play is suspended. The rain coming | :28:00. | :28:10. | |
down quite heavily. What a shame. There is no roof here. It might be | :28:11. | :28:18. | |
awhile they get a roof out to court 17, I suspect. Perhaps we will move | :28:19. | :28:24. | |
up one court. With the spectacle we have had this week with wheelchair | :28:25. | :28:28. | |
tennis, it has been fantastic. It really has and there has been lots | :28:29. | :28:31. | |
of talk about moving on to bigger courts next year. For the time being | :28:32. | :28:38. | |
the only court that is covered is Centre Court and they are busy on | :28:39. | :28:41. | |
that one in a couple of hours. We are told in will just be sporadic | :28:42. | :28:47. | |
showers, they are not going to hang around long. It will be interesting | :28:48. | :28:54. | |
to see if they cover the courts. It does look as if the players are | :28:55. | :29:00. | |
heading off. And now it looks like the sun has come out. The players | :29:01. | :29:10. | |
have switched into the day chairs, Peter, at least Stefan Olsson has. | :29:11. | :29:14. | |
Different to the one he plays tennis in. Absolutely, it is a lot easier, | :29:15. | :29:20. | |
narrower, you do not want to use your sports centre, tennis check, | :29:21. | :29:24. | |
you would never get through the doorways. Camber on the whales to | :29:25. | :29:29. | |
give them stability which makes them ternary fast. -- wheels. Smaller and | :29:30. | :29:39. | |
harder front casters, that makes them quicker and lighter. The chair | :29:40. | :29:44. | |
is made of all sorts of materials now, principally titanium. Someone | :29:45. | :29:51. | |
like Stephane Houdet has a Fandango carbon fibre chair. We can talk more | :29:52. | :29:58. | |
about that over the next few hours but for the time being we are | :29:59. | :30:01. | |
hanging around waiting for the rain to stop. | :30:02. | :30:16. | |
There is one from the sun, but you can't really just yet. I am here | :30:17. | :30:22. | |
with Alper, you have to deal with these moments, as well as the | :30:23. | :30:26. | |
occasion from the final -- with Alfie. As a tennis player, one of | :30:27. | :30:29. | |
the biggest annoyances is these breaks, you prepare police badges | :30:30. | :30:33. | |
and you get so in the zone and then you have these periods where you | :30:34. | :30:38. | |
don't play -- you prepare for these matches. I thought Gordon was | :30:39. | :30:43. | |
playing very well, under a great deal of pressure on his serve, it is | :30:44. | :30:47. | |
definitely more windy up this end, you found that yesterday. I think | :30:48. | :30:53. | |
Gordon has got of row to a really good start, it is only 1-1, | :30:54. | :30:58. | |
advantage to Gordon. He is relaxed, he looks calm on the ball. I think | :30:59. | :31:03. | |
he has maybe mis-hit one ball so far, so considering it is a massive | :31:04. | :31:06. | |
occasion for him, he has really dealt with his nerves well. So has | :31:07. | :31:13. | |
Stefan Olsson, he is moving really well on the court, hitting his slice | :31:14. | :31:17. | |
really well and it is turning out to be a really good match. They | :31:18. | :31:21. | |
obviously don't want to bring the covers across the rain is going to | :31:22. | :31:27. | |
stop quickly but it is going to make the surface slippery. Definitely and | :31:28. | :31:30. | |
that will suit both players, because they both love the slice. The ball | :31:31. | :31:33. | |
is going to skip through the court more. I think the movement will be | :31:34. | :31:40. | |
easier, because the wheels will be closer to ground, they can get more | :31:41. | :31:43. | |
tread on the wheels. They will move more and that will make it even | :31:44. | :31:46. | |
tougher for them, because there will be longer rallies, which makes it | :31:47. | :31:52. | |
tough to push around the court, but definitely, it is going to be | :31:53. | :31:57. | |
interesting. Stefan is right here behind us, having an umbrella held | :31:58. | :32:02. | |
over him, as indeed I am. He is an immense player, he has been so | :32:03. | :32:07. | |
successful over the years. Definitely, he has been one of the | :32:08. | :32:10. | |
most successful wheelchair tennis players. He has obviously got a lot | :32:11. | :32:15. | |
of experience. Like Peter said, he has played in different Paralympics, | :32:16. | :32:19. | |
he played in the Winter Paralympics, which not many athletes get to do, | :32:20. | :32:25. | |
so it shows his determination and his motivation in sport and his self | :32:26. | :32:30. | |
drive, because to be able to do that in two different sports is really | :32:31. | :32:35. | |
incredible, I take my hat off to him. He won Gold at London 2012, I | :32:36. | :32:41. | |
remember watching that match and he was very much the experienced player | :32:42. | :32:46. | |
there again and he is with someone I never like to come against, because | :32:47. | :32:49. | |
he knows how to work the ball and where to hit the spots in the court, | :32:50. | :32:54. | |
very experienced, like I said. That is why I think that they will be | :32:55. | :32:58. | |
very interesting. He has held serve to love in his only service game, | :32:59. | :33:02. | |
whereas Gordon was taken to deuce and is under pressure in his second | :33:03. | :33:06. | |
service game. When they do resume, it be advantageous Reid. I think it | :33:07. | :33:14. | |
has stopped raining -- at Vantage Reid. I am going to talk to you, | :33:15. | :33:19. | |
have you watched wheelchair tennis before? I haven't, it is the first | :33:20. | :33:25. | |
time I have been to Wimbledon. I am with my brother, who's just over | :33:26. | :33:29. | |
there and he been loads of times. Hello! This is the first time really | :33:30. | :33:37. | |
coming. What do you think of it? I didn't really expect it. I have | :33:38. | :33:42. | |
never been here, so I thought it was going to be just one massive court | :33:43. | :33:48. | |
and then I knew there were loads of these courts, but I thought you had | :33:49. | :33:53. | |
to buy a seat or something, so it was kind of nice that you could just | :33:54. | :33:58. | |
watch it and see. It is such an experience and really, really nice. | :33:59. | :34:07. | |
And you are James? J. You have come a times. Four times. How come? One | :34:08. | :34:19. | |
time, I won tickets where Andy Murray trained. He saw the 2015 | :34:20. | :34:25. | |
final with Djokovic and Federer. You were on Centre Court for that? How | :34:26. | :34:32. | |
old were you? Eight. So you are nine now. You are watching the wheelchair | :34:33. | :34:36. | |
tennis, are you supporting Gordon Reid? Yes. What do you make of | :34:37. | :34:42. | |
wheelchair tennis? I don't know if they have two bounces? They can have | :34:43. | :34:48. | |
two, but quite often they take it on the single bounce, but they are | :34:49. | :34:52. | |
allowed two if they needed. Do you see how much wrist action they are | :34:53. | :34:58. | |
using and the slice? They do it really high, so they can't get it | :34:59. | :35:04. | |
back, because they are sitting down. Exactly, so the lob is an important | :35:05. | :35:09. | |
job. Thank you for the impromptu interview. We are hearing that it is | :35:10. | :35:14. | |
less than five minutes until play will resume and the net is going | :35:15. | :35:19. | |
back up, fantastic. So, Alfie, I am going to grab the brolly, can I just | :35:20. | :35:26. | |
give you that? Good, excellent, so only a short break, but obviously | :35:27. | :35:29. | |
for the players, they have been sitting, waiting. Do you get to warm | :35:30. | :35:36. | |
up again or have we not been long enough off? I think it has been too | :35:37. | :35:43. | |
short, so they will go straight back into the match. So Gordon has do | :35:44. | :35:48. | |
resume on serve, advantageous Reid. At least it is not a break point. | :35:49. | :35:54. | |
That is one of the tough things, going back without any warm up, so | :35:55. | :35:58. | |
you need to keep your upper body lose, keep in the zone, so you can | :35:59. | :36:02. | |
go straight back into the match itself without having to take time. | :36:03. | :36:06. | |
The last thing you want now is to go back feeling sluggish and | :36:07. | :36:11. | |
demotivated. I think both players, just from watching them, have kept | :36:12. | :36:17. | |
in the zone, Stefan has been quite calm and chilled and Gordon, with | :36:18. | :36:22. | |
the support around him. They are starting again already. With the | :36:23. | :36:27. | |
support behind him, Gordon will find it easier to get that drive and | :36:28. | :36:32. | |
motivation. And it really helps that this is not Gordon's first Grand | :36:33. | :36:38. | |
Slam final. He has won the Australian Open, runner-up at Roland | :36:39. | :36:41. | |
Garros. His first Wimbledon final, because no one has played in the | :36:42. | :36:45. | |
Wheelchair Singles at Wimbledon so far, but he seems naturally calm by | :36:46. | :36:51. | |
nature. I think last year, when he was making semifinals in the Grand | :36:52. | :36:54. | |
Slams, I remember him saying he had a monkey on his back over the Grand | :36:55. | :36:58. | |
Slams because he wasn't able to perform may be how he wanted to, but | :36:59. | :37:03. | |
this year, he seems to have turned it around. Winning the Australian | :37:04. | :37:07. | |
Open, I think, has been a massive confidence booster for him at the | :37:08. | :37:11. | |
Grand Slams and that has led to him making Roland Garros and now | :37:12. | :37:15. | |
Wimbledon. He doesn't want to hang around, he is in his match chair. | :37:16. | :37:20. | |
You can see how the wheels are sloped inwards. I noticed Stephane | :37:21. | :37:23. | |
Houdet eight, who you were playing in doubles, his chair was totally | :37:24. | :37:27. | |
different to everybody else's. He has spent a load of money on a | :37:28. | :37:34. | |
carbon fibre chair, which is very light. It seems like it is very | :37:35. | :37:41. | |
unstable but it gives him the ability to swing more freely, his | :37:42. | :37:45. | |
strength on the ball was still good but I think if you get them at the | :37:46. | :37:49. | |
feet or you make him reach, he can lose that balance because there is | :37:50. | :37:54. | |
no support there at all. I think he has maybe one strap that keeps him | :37:55. | :37:58. | |
in his chair, but how much that actually helps him, I don't know. | :37:59. | :38:02. | |
Fair play to him, it is a great design and I think it certainly | :38:03. | :38:05. | |
enhanced his performance. These chairs, are they titanium? Yes, they | :38:06. | :38:15. | |
cost a lot of money. How much? I am getting a new chair for the | :38:16. | :38:18. | |
Paralympics and that costs just under six grand. So you have to look | :38:19. | :38:24. | |
after it! Yes, I am hoping the airlines keep it nice and clean too. | :38:25. | :38:29. | |
These are the equivalent of Formula One cars, specifically designed for | :38:30. | :38:33. | |
this purpose. They have the smaller wheels underneath so you can move | :38:34. | :38:37. | |
from side to side more easily. Obviously, you can't tell the big | :38:38. | :38:42. | |
wheels are there to help turn the Chair more quickly, that is why they | :38:43. | :38:46. | |
are slanted, because if you try pushing with the day chair wheels, | :38:47. | :38:50. | |
it is impossible, you lose your balance and with the one at the | :38:51. | :38:55. | |
back, that is for balance as well. With day cheers, -- HS, you don't | :38:56. | :39:03. | |
have anti-keep. These chairs are amazing. These chairs are amazing. | :39:04. | :39:10. | |
If you look at the past ten years and have developed the chairs are, | :39:11. | :39:15. | |
it is amazing. The stuff from Alfie Hewett, Gordon Reid's partner and a | :39:16. | :39:21. | |
new Wimbledon doubles champion. So a real test for Gordon, resuming here, | :39:22. | :39:26. | |
advantageous Reid, we don't think there will be any warm up. Let's | :39:27. | :39:29. | |
hand you back to Peter Norfolk and Mick Mullins. | :39:30. | :39:35. | |
-- Nick Mullins. Thank you very much. We have the world expert on | :39:36. | :39:48. | |
wheelchair design, Peter Norfolk. Now, as Alfie was saying, these are | :39:49. | :39:53. | |
six, seven or eight grand, but Stephane Houdet a's chair is in the | :39:54. | :39:58. | |
stratosphere. He was knocked out in the semifinals. I'm trying to | :39:59. | :40:01. | |
describe it and where the design is going. What Stephane Houdet a has | :40:02. | :40:06. | |
done, in collaboration with a company that have really gone into | :40:07. | :40:13. | |
carbon fibre, but spoke and specific to his disability and ability and | :40:14. | :40:17. | |
how he wants to play tennis. He essentially wants to play standing | :40:18. | :40:23. | |
up tennis at a sitting down level, but he doesn't want to be centrally | :40:24. | :40:30. | |
sitting down. So he has taken his knees out of the equation. When you | :40:31. | :40:34. | |
are sat down, your knees are in the way, you can't hit shots right in | :40:35. | :40:38. | |
front of you and food a's new carbon fibre per spoke chair thing -- | :40:39. | :40:47. | |
Stephane Houdet a's new carbon fibre bespoke chair has given him more | :40:48. | :40:53. | |
balance and he has to use a lot of core strength to balance the | :40:54. | :40:58. | |
machine. The hand rims are bigger so he has more grip and it is all about | :40:59. | :41:03. | |
the first push off the mark, so you can get to the ball. He has bigger | :41:04. | :41:08. | |
front castors. If you look at some of these chairs here, Gordon Reid | :41:09. | :41:14. | |
and Stefan Olsson's chairs are titanium, they have smaller front | :41:15. | :41:25. | |
casters, high pressure tyres. Houdet was pumped up to 160 psi. It is | :41:26. | :41:32. | |
fascinating stuff, he is looking to change the boundaries and Houdet | :41:33. | :41:37. | |
wants to move forward. We have had those leaps in the last couple of | :41:38. | :41:42. | |
decades. He does. You have to have a bit of cash though, ?100,000 to buy | :41:43. | :41:47. | |
one of those chairs. So back under after a delay of about 15 minutes in | :41:48. | :41:52. | |
total and it was at a critical point, because Gordon Reid was | :41:53. | :41:58. | |
trying to serve out the third game of the opening set. It had been on | :41:59. | :42:06. | |
serve for the first two games and a marathon third game, with Reid | :42:07. | :42:10. | |
working hard on his serve. The rain came down but we have been told we | :42:11. | :42:13. | |
will have the odd shower over the next hour or so, nothing that ought | :42:14. | :42:19. | |
to be to prolonged and the players, because they were held up for 50 | :42:20. | :42:22. | |
minutes, we'll get a three minute warm up, and it was interesting to | :42:23. | :42:28. | |
see Gordon Reid making sure the chair was as dry as possible, | :42:29. | :42:32. | |
because they will need the grip to do moves like that. Absolutely, any | :42:33. | :42:38. | |
bit of drizzle, if you have a titanium handle, your hand slips and | :42:39. | :42:42. | |
as soon as your hand slips, you missed the first push and you will | :42:43. | :42:46. | |
not get to the ball, so it is crucial that they keep a hand rail | :42:47. | :42:51. | |
dry, so when they towelled down, you will see often that they often | :42:52. | :42:58. | |
towelled down a hand grip as well. Stefan Olsson, the Swede, the | :42:59. | :43:04. | |
29-year-old, for the benefit of newcomers, a double Paralympic | :43:05. | :43:11. | |
champion, he won a crosstown at Eton Manor in 2012, Sweden's first-ever | :43:12. | :43:17. | |
gold medal in the event. A Silva medallist four years earlier in | :43:18. | :43:21. | |
Beijing. He is an outstanding athlete. We have already mentioned | :43:22. | :43:28. | |
he was a Wimbledon champion in 2010, runner-up in the doubles at Roland | :43:29. | :43:31. | |
Garros last month, where, incidentally, he lost to Gordon Reid | :43:32. | :43:37. | |
and Shingo Kunieda, whose name might be familiar. Kunieda, arguably when | :43:38. | :43:42. | |
he is fit and at his best, is the best player in the world, bit he is | :43:43. | :43:47. | |
not here because he is injured and wants to make sure he is ready for | :43:48. | :43:51. | |
Rio next month -- but he is not here. Absolutely but it will be | :43:52. | :43:56. | |
interesting, Gordon is number three, he has beaten Shingo Kunieda. | :43:57. | :44:01. | |
Gustavo Fernandez is always a threat. Olsson, obviously Houdet. I | :44:02. | :44:05. | |
think it is not a Shingo Kunieda year. All of these players now have | :44:06. | :44:10. | |
seen some infallibility, a bit of a gap, a bit of daylight and I think | :44:11. | :44:17. | |
with Rio coming up, they are all thinking they are in with a chance | :44:18. | :44:20. | |
and it is fantastic for world wheelchair tennis, let alone British | :44:21. | :44:24. | |
wheelchair tennis, if Gordon does this arena double here. He will be | :44:25. | :44:29. | |
on top of the world and so full of confidence. And how great to see | :44:30. | :44:33. | |
this. I wondered in early yesterday morning and the hill was absolutely | :44:34. | :44:38. | |
full of folk watching Gordon Reid playing the semifinal... Playing the | :44:39. | :44:43. | |
final with Alfie Hewett in the doubles. And I know one of their big | :44:44. | :44:48. | |
desires is just to spread the word, to show exactly what is possible as | :44:49. | :44:53. | |
an athlete when you are doing what they are doing, sitting in her | :44:54. | :44:57. | |
chair. And this is perfect, the biggest platform for wheelchair | :44:58. | :45:01. | |
tennis in the world. Wimbledon is the premier event, soak for | :45:02. | :45:05. | |
wheelchair tennis here, this is fantastic, and I am so happy. I have | :45:06. | :45:09. | |
been playing tennis for decades, it feels like, and we are now at the | :45:10. | :45:14. | |
pinnacle of singles and doubles at Wimbledon, singles and doubles at | :45:15. | :45:19. | |
all of the other Grand Slams and this is just wonderful parity, I am | :45:20. | :45:23. | |
just so happy for them. And having Gordon Reid in the final? Again? | :45:24. | :45:26. | |
Wow, this has been a great weekend. It is not over yet. Great week for | :45:27. | :45:43. | |
him, with Jordanne Whiley, introduced to the Royal box last | :45:44. | :45:48. | |
Saturday on Centre Court. Reid advantage on his own serve. | :45:49. | :46:19. | |
He is not short of support. The Reid army wearing the Alice Barnes that | :46:20. | :46:28. | |
have become quite a fashion accessory. -- Alice bands. It could | :46:29. | :46:38. | |
be a ponytail next, Gareth Bale stack? His mum. In the white blouse | :46:39. | :46:51. | |
at the back. And his sister Emily with the Garland. Steven Davis his | :46:52. | :46:57. | |
brothers probably there as well. And dad Graham. | :46:58. | :47:08. | |
One server at the start of this final. | :47:09. | :47:49. | |
That is a wow I can, you have got to say. | :47:50. | :47:57. | |
The key to the return is to be on the Move author. | :47:58. | :48:18. | |
Putting the pressure on by rolling across the baseline. The challenge | :48:19. | :48:24. | |
for the server when you are hitting from static is to get moving as | :48:25. | :48:28. | |
quickly as possible. And pick the spot, so you can work out where the | :48:29. | :48:36. | |
return is coming. As soon as you serve you have to remove. | :48:37. | :49:23. | |
Stefan Nielsen squandered the break point in the previous game and now | :49:24. | :49:31. | |
after the rain delay there is a chance for Reid. | :49:32. | :49:51. | |
Brilliantly played by Olsson. That ball could have spat anywhere. And | :49:52. | :50:00. | |
very lucky, you mustn't touch the net the chair either so he had to | :50:01. | :50:05. | |
spin out. Fantastic play. Moving into the forehand so well. | :50:06. | :51:02. | |
Beautiful down the line. Gordon Reid makes the first | :51:03. | :51:33. | |
significant move in this final. He has broken. | :51:34. | :51:42. | |
Both men have to exploit the gaps because it is heavy going in the | :51:43. | :51:48. | |
chair. It is harder to get moving and keep the chair moving. As soon | :51:49. | :51:54. | |
as they have got a chance hit it back behind, sliced loaf. Great play | :51:55. | :51:57. | |
by Gordon Reid. -- slice low. The big Rangers fan, Mark Warburton | :51:58. | :52:20. | |
amongst those sending their congratulations yesterday when he | :52:21. | :52:24. | |
won the doubles, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as well. Making | :52:25. | :52:27. | |
headlines for himself and the sport this week. | :52:28. | :52:41. | |
Gordon looking comfortable. Keeping on putting the pressure on Olsson. | :52:42. | :52:52. | |
Keep doing that so Olsson does not get his confidence up. | :52:53. | :53:22. | |
You paid for the racket, you might as well use all of it will stop | :53:23. | :53:29. | |
slight mis-hit. He will take anything he can get. | :53:30. | :53:52. | |
The sounds of Wimbledon, the band in the distance. And a packed court 17. | :53:53. | :54:26. | |
If the ball hits the chair then you have lost the point. Really jammed | :54:27. | :54:34. | |
up there by the inaccuracy of Olsson. It is a good technical shot | :54:35. | :54:39. | |
to hit it straight back and the player. | :54:40. | :54:46. | |
-- straight back at the player. Olsson playing a bit further up the | :54:47. | :54:59. | |
court. He has been jammed pack a long way behind the baseline. | :55:00. | :55:08. | |
Has to be careful, Gordon can export the gaps easier if he stays that far | :55:09. | :55:14. | |
back, like that. Once again Reid having to date card | :55:15. | :56:35. | |
to hold onto his serve but hold on he does. -- having to dig hard. | :56:36. | :56:48. | |
He has a good support group looking after him, just standing up in the | :56:49. | :56:54. | |
white cab is strewn Wilkinson, league coach of British wheelchair | :56:55. | :56:58. | |
tennis, based up the road at Roehampton. And next up is Karen, in | :56:59. | :57:08. | |
the red, Karen Ross working with Gordon Reid for the best part of ten | :57:09. | :57:12. | |
years. And she has worked with Andy Murray as well when he was growing | :57:13. | :57:17. | |
up in Dunblane. She is bring much part of what Gordon Reid is doing | :57:18. | :57:20. | |
right now. And it bit of history, Stuart Wilkinson has a history of | :57:21. | :57:26. | |
winning, he used to be my coach. We know how to win and we know how to | :57:27. | :57:34. | |
bring people through. We have more juniors, anyone can play wheelchair | :57:35. | :57:38. | |
tennis. That is what we are so pleased about. There are still | :57:39. | :57:43. | |
people not realising you can play wheelchair tennis. The quality is | :57:44. | :57:49. | |
amazing. I expected more slice from Olsson, more backhand slice, to | :57:50. | :57:51. | |
really knife it into Gordon. That is what Olsson did to read in | :57:52. | :58:39. | |
the previous point. Reid is good friends with Andy | :58:40. | :59:15. | |
Murray, they shared Scottish International tennis Player of the | :59:16. | :59:24. | |
Year award last year. He was so bridging single success and the | :59:25. | :59:26. | |
Australian Open with Andy Murray watching on earlier this year. -- | :59:27. | :59:31. | |
celebrating singles success. How about that? And a couple of | :59:32. | :00:00. | |
little spins at the end of it to celebrate. That was amazing. Gordon | :00:01. | :00:07. | |
skidded to a stop. Fabulous chair control. | :00:08. | :00:14. | |
Now, then. Two more points for a double break | :00:15. | :00:19. | |
of serve. Those shots behind the Chair, Peter, | :00:20. | :00:43. | |
so often so profitable. Expecting more of those from Olsson, those | :00:44. | :00:44. | |
knife slices. Stefan Olsson has lost his last two | :00:45. | :01:19. | |
service games. That means Scotland's Gordon Reid is on the brink of | :01:20. | :01:23. | |
taking the first set in this first ever Wimbledon singles final. | :01:24. | :01:46. | |
What a start for Reid. He will be really happy with this, getting off | :01:47. | :01:54. | |
to a great 5-1 lead. Just what he wanted to do. | :01:55. | :02:07. | |
It is the 20th time they have met on the circuit, first in 2009. Olsson | :02:08. | :02:21. | |
won the first four matches, and the last in South Africa. | :02:22. | :02:28. | |
There is a big worldwide circuit now. In between, play psi 14 in a | :02:29. | :02:35. | |
row. That was a really cute backhand. -- they play 14. | :02:36. | :03:06. | |
There was a word of acknowledgement immediately from Reid. | :03:07. | :03:13. | |
Smart play, he could see Reid was right behind the baseline. Pinned | :03:14. | :03:19. | |
him back there and dropped a short ball into the service box. | :03:20. | :04:03. | |
You really can't wait for the second bounce on these courts. Gordon | :04:04. | :04:09. | |
pushed Olsson right back and waited for the second bounce. If it is not | :04:10. | :04:14. | |
good, it has to be taken on one bounce. | :04:15. | :04:23. | |
Here we go, watch this backhand, top-spin, out the air. That is great | :04:24. | :04:34. | |
confidence, isn't it? At the right time, at just the right | :04:35. | :05:09. | |
time, he has rediscovered his best form. Absolutely, Olsson really | :05:10. | :05:14. | |
knifed his backhand and Gordon just swatted away. | :05:15. | :05:23. | |
Gordon Reid is on his way. He is halfway towards becoming the | :05:24. | :05:30. | |
Wimbledon singles champion. He has taken the first set 6-1. | :05:31. | :05:39. | |
CLAIRE BALDING: A terrific hold of serve, he saved two break points, | :05:40. | :05:46. | |
served it out and I am with his doubles partner Alfie Hewett, what | :05:47. | :05:51. | |
is your reaction to the way he has started? A very positive start. He | :05:52. | :05:55. | |
has come out here and dominated the play. He has kind of taken it to | :05:56. | :06:01. | |
Stefan and ask the question and so far, I think he has had a response. | :06:02. | :06:05. | |
One of the biggest differences I have noticed with Gordon between | :06:06. | :06:10. | |
this match and previous matches is Gordon is really hitting through the | :06:11. | :06:14. | |
ball. He is really using his angles well, mixing the pace up. He is | :06:15. | :06:20. | |
slicing, using his reverse backhand, which I didn't think he would use as | :06:21. | :06:25. | |
much as he has done. Gordon has really come out here positive, | :06:26. | :06:31. | |
aggressive, and that showed in that sector. Testaments to his | :06:32. | :06:34. | |
psychological strength, he hasn't lost a game sent back the rate since | :06:35. | :06:41. | |
the rain break. -- since the rain break. Definitely, I was wrong about | :06:42. | :06:48. | |
the warm up! He has come out, he has focused and he has got the momentum | :06:49. | :06:54. | |
with him right now, so he needs to keep that up. I will come back and | :06:55. | :06:59. | |
talk to Alfie later on. There are so many people packed around Court 17, | :07:00. | :07:04. | |
people trying to shove in to the odd seats that my despair and leaning | :07:05. | :07:08. | |
over the walls at the back. And the large, large majority of them are | :07:09. | :07:10. | |
supporting Gordon Reid. NICK MULLINS: The start of the | :07:11. | :07:22. | |
second set and Stefan Olsson to serve first. | :07:23. | :07:34. | |
Looking at some first stirred serve statistics from that first set, | :07:35. | :07:48. | |
Olsson at 30%, Reid up at 60%. He has got to change that, quite | :07:49. | :07:53. | |
simply. Gordon is just totally overpowering him. Gordon Reid has | :07:54. | :08:01. | |
taken the initiative and he is just not giving Olsson any time to | :08:02. | :08:02. | |
settle. That is not going to do Olsson any | :08:03. | :08:42. | |
good, more free points to give Gordon more competence. -- | :08:43. | :08:45. | |
confidence. Olsson's service isn't getting any | :08:46. | :09:10. | |
better. And right at the start of the second set, two more break | :09:11. | :09:15. | |
points. Well, Olsson was on a bit of a hot streak this tournament and I | :09:16. | :09:18. | |
just wonder if his little bubble has burst. | :09:19. | :09:29. | |
And there is the break. Some muttering in Swedish from Stefan | :09:30. | :09:37. | |
Olsson. He is feeling the frustration. Reid in charge. | :09:38. | :09:43. | |
Yes, what Gordon has done is take the ball early on the first bounce, | :09:44. | :09:49. | |
the ball is really coming through, so it is coming on to Olsson's | :09:50. | :09:54. | |
racket really fast and he has not had the time to do anything with it. | :09:55. | :09:59. | |
He is snatching a little bit. Going wide on the sidelines or double | :10:00. | :10:04. | |
faults. I don't know what he is going to do to change it, but Gordon | :10:05. | :10:09. | |
certainly doesn't need to change his game. | :10:10. | :10:16. | |
Life, if you Gordon Reid, feels pretty good right now. It might feel | :10:17. | :10:23. | |
even better in around half an hour. He is up by a set and a break. | :10:24. | :10:46. | |
Wheelchair tennis, by the way, now plays a full part in all four of the | :10:47. | :10:54. | |
sport's Grand Slams. Wimbledon was the last one to introduce doubles, | :10:55. | :11:00. | |
for the first time in men back in 2004 and as singles for the first | :11:01. | :11:01. | |
time this year. Once Gordon Reid and Stefan Olsson | :11:02. | :11:33. | |
have completed their singles final, Britain's Jordanne Whiley and her | :11:34. | :11:38. | |
partner Yui Kamiji will be on this Court Two play in the women's | :11:39. | :11:41. | |
doubles. What a day for British wheelchair tennis. | :11:42. | :11:55. | |
You can see Olsson just hit the ball with a bit more pace and it came | :11:56. | :12:01. | |
through a bit more quickly on to Gordon's racket. Just over pulled it | :12:02. | :12:03. | |
a little bit. Wonderful backhand return of serve | :12:04. | :12:35. | |
by Olsson, that will give him a little bit of confidence, a bit of | :12:36. | :12:37. | |
hope. Fantastic. It is brilliant from the | :12:38. | :12:51. | |
Swede. Both players in search of their | :12:52. | :13:07. | |
first ever Wimbledon singles title, the first time we have ever had a | :13:08. | :13:13. | |
singles event here on grass. It is always a concern, Peter Norfolk, | :13:14. | :13:17. | |
that as a singles player, you would find it too hard to zip around on | :13:18. | :13:21. | |
this grass surface, which is a bit more like a carpet, much more | :13:22. | :13:27. | |
friction. It is hard, but these guys are superfit, superfast. The chairs | :13:28. | :13:30. | |
are specifically built for tennis and these surfaces. I was going to | :13:31. | :13:36. | |
say they are used to it, they are not used to it, but they are super | :13:37. | :13:41. | |
strong and they are not going to refuse playing singles at Wimbledon, | :13:42. | :13:42. | |
that's for sure. I know Gordon Reid were saying | :13:43. | :13:53. | |
before the event that there was some concern amongst the players about | :13:54. | :13:56. | |
the quality they would be able to achieve on the grass in the Chair, | :13:57. | :14:00. | |
but there have been no need for those concerns. It has been | :14:01. | :14:04. | |
top-quality. Actually, one of the things he did | :14:05. | :14:15. | |
in training was to have his coach holding him back with a bungee rope | :14:16. | :14:19. | |
and he was having to work very hard to try and escape it. Absolutely, | :14:20. | :14:24. | |
some of the new techniques coming in... It is getting off the mark on | :14:25. | :14:30. | |
the grass and the clay, that is the hard part, that is where you need | :14:31. | :14:33. | |
the strength. These guys are always working on different parts of their | :14:34. | :14:40. | |
bodies to make them faster. Great shot there by Olsson. And there is | :14:41. | :14:44. | |
also the technology of the chairs. It is not just your body, it is the | :14:45. | :14:49. | |
equipment as well. You know, wheelchair sport is right up there | :14:50. | :14:55. | |
now. It is all about achieving the best you can achieve. And the | :14:56. | :14:57. | |
rewards are there. Oh, dear. Really? We will have a | :14:58. | :15:12. | |
look at that. I think if we had the benefit of Harry Hawk-Eye on Court | :15:13. | :15:16. | |
17, he might be being rolled out. I would have questioned that one. | :15:17. | :15:22. | |
Might have been wrong again. Maybe. I still would have questioned it. | :15:23. | :15:39. | |
His strap came undone them. Essential bits of agreement. | :15:40. | :16:08. | |
-- essential bits of equipment. Got himself back in this game. It was | :16:09. | :16:22. | |
the right shot, rifled backhand back behind the player. | :16:23. | :16:30. | |
He has re-established the break of serve. Gordon Reid. | :16:31. | :17:15. | |
He lost the use of his legs just before his 13th birthday, contracted | :17:16. | :17:24. | |
transverse myelitis, the disease affecting the spinal-cord. He was | :17:25. | :17:29. | |
completely paralysed for six months but has since regained some movement | :17:30. | :17:32. | |
he began to play wheelchair tennis, initially to keep fit as well as | :17:33. | :17:36. | |
anything, but it wasn't long before he realised he was pretty good and | :17:37. | :17:43. | |
it is the outlet like this that allow people according to do what | :17:44. | :17:47. | |
they are doing. That is the beauty of wheelchair tennis and any sport. | :17:48. | :17:52. | |
It is about rehabilitation, recreation and performance. | :17:53. | :17:57. | |
Generally as I did as well you start at the beginning, rehabilitation. We | :17:58. | :18:04. | |
have it in spinal units. Part of the beautiful tennis is we try to get | :18:05. | :18:10. | |
tennis chairs into tennis centres so anyone with any disability can | :18:11. | :18:15. | |
comment. Wheelchair tennis has open categories. Men and women. That | :18:16. | :18:22. | |
would be the great ambition to have sports chairs in every tennis club | :18:23. | :18:29. | |
around the country. It is coming. This is the man flying the flight | :18:30. | :18:33. | |
for British men's tennis right now. Gordon Reid. | :18:34. | :18:57. | |
Fascinating press conference before the tournament started with | :18:58. | :19:02. | |
accordingly and Jordanne Whiley talking about what wheelchair tennis | :19:03. | :19:07. | |
had given them and what they hoped other disability sports might give | :19:08. | :19:09. | |
others. That is brilliant. Jordanne had a | :19:10. | :19:29. | |
really tough time when she was growing up. She was bullied, in and | :19:30. | :19:35. | |
out of hospital, made it hard to form when ships and she found tennis | :19:36. | :19:38. | |
which gave her the reason to believe in herself. -- made it hard to form | :19:39. | :19:44. | |
friendships. She spoke eloquently and we will see her on court in her | :19:45. | :19:52. | |
final in the next hour or so. Wheelchair tennis is a very enabling | :19:53. | :19:59. | |
sport and it is a worldwide sport. Actually we all the of the family. | :20:00. | :20:12. | |
Once again holding onto his first proving to be a tricky business have | :20:13. | :20:21. | |
a moment. Two more break back points for Stephane Olsson. It is tough | :20:22. | :20:33. | |
down there, heavy conditions, blustery. Not particularly pleasant | :20:34. | :20:45. | |
on the grass. It is heavy going. There is a break back. | :20:46. | :20:58. | |
Gordon's friends and family and supporters shouting out. McGavin | :20:59. | :21:06. | |
queueing, varying over to watch this. Thing that is why they are | :21:07. | :21:10. | |
going to try to keep them to these courts, speaking the kept -- keeping | :21:11. | :21:14. | |
the spectacle open to as many people as possible. This is a fabulous but | :21:15. | :21:21. | |
called for wheelchair tennis. Brilliant. | :21:22. | :21:50. | |
Mike Dean are you have noticed but Olsson is struggling with the lower | :21:51. | :21:59. | |
force. -- I do not know if you have noticed. | :22:00. | :22:11. | |
Taking the wrong way. Shortfall. Gordon Reid came in. -- short wall. | :22:12. | :22:23. | |
He sent Olsson the wrong way. Hafeez Hewett was talking to Clare | :22:24. | :22:44. | |
Alfie Hewett was talking to Clare Balding about how well he disguises | :22:45. | :22:51. | |
the shots, holding the ball on his racket before he commits. And when | :22:52. | :22:55. | |
you play a lot of tennis you also know where the player is going by | :22:56. | :23:00. | |
the chair, with your peripheral vision. I was never fast but I had | :23:01. | :23:05. | |
good reaction. I was working out what was going to happen. | :23:06. | :23:09. | |
That was a bit wayward. And once again it is becoming a theme of the | :23:10. | :23:21. | |
second set. Another break of serve. At least two more opportunities for | :23:22. | :23:23. | |
Gordon Reid to take the lead. Enjoying this wheelchair final in | :23:24. | :24:07. | |
the company of the best ever quad tennis player down the years. Peter | :24:08. | :24:20. | |
carried the flag for Britain. I have forgotten thing... You have been | :24:21. | :24:26. | |
involved in the squad. Explain the difference. I started in the men's, | :24:27. | :24:36. | |
two decades ago. Then I had according to me -- a codec | :24:37. | :24:56. | |
to me -- I have a cordectomy, that meant I could play in the quads, | :24:57. | :25:05. | |
three limbs affected. The standard is amazing. It is all about playing | :25:06. | :25:15. | |
tennis. I played with Andy Lapthorne. It is all about being | :25:16. | :25:25. | |
able to play. Would you mean by being released to play? Changing | :25:26. | :25:33. | |
attitudes. It is about us saying we are able to play, the Gabba | :25:34. | :25:42. | |
standard. It is very inclusive. Looking at Gordon and Andy Murray, | :25:43. | :25:48. | |
the follow what we are doing. We are trying our hearts out and tennis is | :25:49. | :25:53. | |
at the heart of it, we are tennis players. We are not disabled tennis | :25:54. | :25:59. | |
post. Tennis is tennis. Sometimes we have two bounces and sometimes we | :26:00. | :26:11. | |
don't. You sound like quad father. I get a bit passionate, sorry. There | :26:12. | :26:23. | |
is no need to apologise. " Don't look at what we can't do, look at | :26:24. | :26:31. | |
what we can do". It is about attitudes are changing. Things might | :26:32. | :26:36. | |
take time. They are not going for another | :26:37. | :26:53. | |
break, Amavi? Certainly not getting any easier to hold the serve. You | :26:54. | :26:59. | |
can see the bank stops blustery and the aces... | :27:00. | :27:17. | |
My word! Fabulous shot. Look at this. | :27:18. | :27:32. | |
When Gordon went off you could hear his chair wheels fluttering, that | :27:33. | :27:42. | |
means the chair is grabbing and not rolling properly. | :27:43. | :28:04. | |
The standard that both of these players are achieving right now, | :28:05. | :28:14. | |
having dropped his serve again, once again. Breaks back will stop | :28:15. | :28:21. | |
Olsson's chair, they are allowed if they get a problem with the chair, a | :28:22. | :28:29. | |
technical time-out. 15 minutes. They can get it repaired and sorted and | :28:30. | :28:31. | |
back on board. We talked about how this sport is | :28:32. | :29:05. | |
now pretty much 12 months around the world and around the year and when | :29:06. | :29:13. | |
they are not onshore they will be busy training. Give us an idea of | :29:14. | :29:17. | |
the con of work they would be doing in training? They will do all sorts. | :29:18. | :29:29. | |
Crosscourt rules, chairs the, getting off the mark. It is the | :29:30. | :29:37. | |
first push and then the next two fishes and about turn, you do it | :29:38. | :29:41. | |
with and without the racket. There is lots of found training to keep | :29:42. | :29:47. | |
supple because all of your power is upfront. -- band trainings. You need | :29:48. | :29:58. | |
to watch out for rotator cuff problems of course. | :29:59. | :30:07. | |
You can see what that meant. He needed that. Break by break he is | :30:08. | :30:13. | |
getting closer and closer. Why is it so hard to hold onto your | :30:14. | :30:24. | |
server right now when it didn't appear to be that difficult in the | :30:25. | :30:29. | |
first set -- your server. There is a trend in singles, it has always been | :30:30. | :30:35. | |
harder to hold your serve in singles. I am still working that one | :30:36. | :30:43. | |
out. I was always happy to break serve to win a match. Gordon has now | :30:44. | :30:49. | |
got to serve to go 5-3 and actually, I would have said that was a really | :30:50. | :30:55. | |
good position to break Olsson and win the match. One I never actively | :30:56. | :31:11. | |
created. Listen to the shouts of "G-O" around the court. His mum on | :31:12. | :31:18. | |
the left, Alison, his dad, Graham, his brothers and sisters, Stephen, | :31:19. | :31:23. | |
David and Emily and a whole band of supporters. | :31:24. | :31:37. | |
Mustn't forget Olsson in all of this, the hugely talented | :31:38. | :31:42. | |
all-rounder. Actually took some time away from tennis to represent the | :31:43. | :31:48. | |
Swede at ice sledge hockey at the Paralympics. | :31:49. | :31:53. | |
He is a brilliant all-rounder. You can't take it away from him, a | :31:54. | :32:00. | |
fantastic athlete, someone who can go away from tennis and pop back in, | :32:01. | :32:07. | |
14 or 15 months ago, now number seven in the world. What talent is | :32:08. | :32:12. | |
that? Right now, he is up against the number three. He is working so | :32:13. | :32:23. | |
hard this --, the Swede, to get himself back in this final. | :32:24. | :32:29. | |
There we go. That is what Gordon was doing in the doubles. He saw Olsson | :32:30. | :32:38. | |
racing back past the baseline and he just popped it back into the service | :32:39. | :32:41. | |
box for a lovely little winner. Right. This is a real opportunity. | :32:42. | :33:11. | |
Holds of serve have become like breaks of serve in this final and | :33:12. | :33:17. | |
Reid has two points to hold onto his serve and move within a game of | :33:18. | :33:18. | |
being champion. Oh, my word. Fantastic tit-for-tat. | :33:19. | :33:43. | |
You have got to applaud both players. Outstanding. Look at this. | :33:44. | :33:49. | |
He almost took the ball boy out. Commitment. | :33:50. | :33:58. | |
There we go. Serve wide and banged it into the Open court. Look what | :33:59. | :34:06. | |
that means to the crowd, and Gordon. Tennis's old one, too. It never | :34:07. | :34:24. | |
fails. -- one, two. So what now for Stefan Olsson? He is | :34:25. | :34:50. | |
not going away, is he? Serving to stay in this final. | :34:51. | :35:18. | |
Gordon tried a cheeky drop shot from behind the baseline. Almost came | :35:19. | :35:22. | |
off. That won't do Olsson's hopes any | :35:23. | :35:45. | |
good. That a double fault on the previous | :35:46. | :36:13. | |
point could be costly for Olsson. You could see Olsson got bogged down | :36:14. | :37:11. | |
there, he was trying to get his chair moving. Gordon hit the ball | :37:12. | :37:15. | |
back behind him. Good ploy. UMPIRE: New balls, please. Olsson | :37:16. | :38:10. | |
has played a brilliant game, all the pressure on him to win it and stay | :38:11. | :38:20. | |
in the final. I feel so nervous. I was remembering back to Athens, when | :38:21. | :38:24. | |
I won my first gold medal, in a massive stadium, it was huge, and I | :38:25. | :38:30. | |
remember having to serve for it and I know I said it is easier to break | :38:31. | :38:35. | |
to win, but I was serving and all I could do was focus and say, one | :38:36. | :38:40. | |
point, this point, and little mantra. And I never looked up at the | :38:41. | :38:45. | |
crowd, didn't do anything and when I hit the last shot and the ball left | :38:46. | :38:48. | |
my strings, I knew immediately that was it. It wasn't the fact that I | :38:49. | :38:54. | |
had won, it was the relief of a four-year programme. I know I am | :38:55. | :39:05. | |
still a cynic, but let's see. I remember commentating on you that | :39:06. | :39:09. | |
day, you didn't make it easy on any of us, not just you. What a moment | :39:10. | :39:15. | |
of Gordon Reid. ?25,000 for the winner. These next few minutes will | :39:16. | :39:20. | |
mean much, much more than that. Serving to become Wimbledon | :39:21. | :39:20. | |
champion. You were shaking your head, Peter. | :39:21. | :39:49. | |
You liked that? This is the most difficult time in the match and that | :39:50. | :39:53. | |
is good strength and confidence from Gordon. Good nerves. | :39:54. | :40:04. | |
Just got to be aware of that little slice by Olsson, he really gives it | :40:05. | :40:13. | |
some pace, so it skims off the surface. | :40:14. | :40:57. | |
How about that? It has gone long. Two points away. The longest point, | :40:58. | :41:10. | |
the longest rally, I think they have had. | :41:11. | :41:33. | |
There are some people watching this who can scarcely believe it. He can | :41:34. | :41:53. | |
believe it. He is serving for the championship. | :41:54. | :42:15. | |
It is easy to do that. It is so easy. I so feel for Reid at the | :42:16. | :42:21. | |
moment. Game, set and match, Reid! Wimbledon | :42:22. | :42:45. | |
champion. Wimbledon champion. The first ever Wimbledon singles | :42:46. | :42:50. | |
champion, Scotland's Gordon Reid. They're best at Wimbledon on wheels. | :42:51. | :42:58. | |
One of the best in the world -- the best at Wimbledon on wheels. What a | :42:59. | :43:04. | |
feeling, you are a champion. Fantastic. Unbelievable, well done. | :43:05. | :43:11. | |
Look at that. He is celebrating. Singles and doubles champion. Wow, | :43:12. | :43:17. | |
wow, wow. This is just historic, brilliant. And the first person to | :43:18. | :43:25. | |
congratulate him, his coach Karen Ross, who has been with him. Along, | :43:26. | :43:30. | |
since he took up the sport as a teenager. Helped introduce him to | :43:31. | :43:35. | |
the sport and look where it has taken him. And he has done as | :43:36. | :43:39. | |
Serena, he has won the singles and the doubles. His mum is going to | :43:40. | :43:49. | |
cry. And his friends, who have been with him from the start, some | :43:50. | :43:53. | |
friends who were with him the morning he woke up and his legs | :43:54. | :43:59. | |
didn't feel quite right and not long later, he was in hospital for six | :44:00. | :44:03. | |
months, paralysed. They have been with him through the whole story and | :44:04. | :44:11. | |
this is just the best final line. What a story. What a story. It is | :44:12. | :44:17. | |
just brilliant. What a Sunday. Is it Super Sunday? Well, one Scot has | :44:18. | :44:26. | |
started the day with a Wimbledon title... Andy Murray will be | :44:27. | :44:37. | |
watching this, I am sure, somewhere. The job for him is to emulate this. | :44:38. | :44:41. | |
Jordanne Whiley on court as well in a while or so, Heather Watson in the | :44:42. | :44:47. | |
Mixed Doubles as well. This could be a very, very special day for British | :44:48. | :44:50. | |
tennis. It already is for Gordon Reid. | :44:51. | :45:02. | |
If put this into perspective for wheelchair tennis and this ability | :45:03. | :45:08. | |
sport in this country. I am not sure I can. How big is Wimbledon, | :45:09. | :45:16. | |
worldwide tennis? We now have a double British winner, singles and | :45:17. | :45:23. | |
doubles. It is unheard of. I am not sure we can put it into words. I | :45:24. | :45:29. | |
think this is a fabulous foundation for youngsters and everyone. Look at | :45:30. | :45:35. | |
British tennis. Whoever said British tennis was not in a good play | :45:36. | :45:39. | |
scratch mark I feel for Olsson, I have been there. It is the worst | :45:40. | :45:45. | |
place to be, sat and waiting while everybody else is celebrating. | :45:46. | :46:00. | |
Please welcome to the court for this presentation Jeff Newton. Firstly, | :46:01. | :46:12. | |
this year's runner up, from Sweden, Stephane Olsson. CHEERING | :46:13. | :46:40. | |
And now, the 20 16th, and indeed, first ever wheelchair tennis singles | :46:41. | :46:52. | |
Wimbledon champion, from Great Britain, Gordon Reid! CHEERING | :46:53. | :47:29. | |
Gordon Reid, double Wimbledon champion having taken the doubles | :47:30. | :47:33. | |
yesterday. Many congratulations, your immediate response to becoming | :47:34. | :47:37. | |
the first ever singles champion here? LAUGHTER | :47:38. | :47:46. | |
It is incredible. To have the opportunity to play singles here is | :47:47. | :47:49. | |
something I have dreams of for a long time. It is amazing. To come | :47:50. | :47:54. | |
here and win in front of the people I love, my friends and families, my | :47:55. | :47:59. | |
coaching team, and so much support, it is unbelievable. I am never going | :48:00. | :48:05. | |
to forget this moment. CHEERING It is a moment none of them will | :48:06. | :48:09. | |
ever forget, none of the people leaning over trying to get a view | :48:10. | :48:14. | |
here, none of the people on Henman Hill, nobody will forget this. You | :48:15. | :48:23. | |
have started the trend, the Alice band army. How many people have you | :48:24. | :48:33. | |
got watching? A big thanks to the LTA and player services for helping | :48:34. | :48:37. | |
me out with 50 tickets to get everybody in! It is a wonderful | :48:38. | :48:44. | |
moment for you and your friends and families both in terms of a broader | :48:45. | :48:47. | |
message how do you hope this will inspire kids and adults watching? | :48:48. | :48:54. | |
Reset and the start of the week that I wanted to get two things this | :48:55. | :48:59. | |
week, the first thing was if there were any kids with disabilities like | :49:00. | :49:04. | |
I was at one stage, if this can inspire them to take up tennis or | :49:05. | :49:07. | |
another sport then that is really important. The second thing is to | :49:08. | :49:11. | |
continue to breaking down barriers when it comes to disability and | :49:12. | :49:16. | |
showcase the personality and high-performance sport, not a | :49:17. | :49:20. | |
disability. With the amount of coverage this week and the amount of | :49:21. | :49:23. | |
interest and the weight people have enjoyed passport, it has been a big | :49:24. | :49:29. | |
milestone and hopefully we can build on that. Very well spoken. With that | :49:30. | :49:38. | |
in mind, a word on Stephane Olsson, who pushed you so hard. Yes, I have | :49:39. | :49:47. | |
to say a big congratulations to Stephane, he has played... APPLAUSE | :49:48. | :49:55. | |
He has played some really great tennis and had some big wins this | :49:56. | :49:59. | |
week. He made it really difficult for me today. I am sure Stephane | :50:00. | :50:04. | |
more than a lot of players has been waiting for singles on grass because | :50:05. | :50:07. | |
he has the game for it I am not sure it is not the last time we see him | :50:08. | :50:11. | |
in the final here. Hopefully we can have more battles in the future. It | :50:12. | :50:17. | |
was a terrific final, we hugely involved and an Gordon, many | :50:18. | :50:21. | |
congratulations. You have made history today. Thank you very much, | :50:22. | :50:23. | |
thank you, everybody. The number of photographers flooding | :50:24. | :50:48. | |
the court, who had to switch ends because Gordon went up to the | :50:49. | :50:52. | |
windier end to serve for the Championships and for the title, his | :50:53. | :50:57. | |
band of supporters singing his song, which ends up with the line about | :50:58. | :51:06. | |
becoming Wimbledon champion. They obviously came up with the lyrics a | :51:07. | :51:13. | |
while back. Their prediction has country. He has indeed won the | :51:14. | :51:18. | |
Wimbledon singles title. Yesterday he took the doubles. And run | :51:19. | :51:26. | |
appeared to get a quick from his doubles partner to see Gordon take | :51:27. | :51:36. | |
the singles trophy. It is a special day for him, many congratulations to | :51:37. | :51:40. | |
Gordon. He has worked very hard for it and now he has made a lot of | :51:41. | :51:48. | |
sacrifices. Training at Roehampton on the grass, to make himself best | :51:49. | :51:51. | |
prepared for this tournament and it has clearly shown and it has all | :51:52. | :51:57. | |
played off. I hope he enjoys the celebrations now. Alfie, how much | :51:58. | :52:04. | |
does it make you want to be here in singles XJ and an all British final? | :52:05. | :52:10. | |
Definitely, being here today, I cannot imagine what the atmosphere | :52:11. | :52:13. | |
would be like if it was the British final. I cannot take anything away | :52:14. | :52:17. | |
from Gordon, he has two enjoy his moment and he deserves all the | :52:18. | :52:21. | |
praise he gets. And Jordanne Whiley is about to come out for the final | :52:22. | :52:26. | |
of the women's doubles, her father is here, keep what are you thinking? | :52:27. | :52:33. | |
I am sure she can do it. Is she in good form, calm, excited? She was | :52:34. | :52:39. | |
very calm today, she is on for it. Fantastic stuff, there will be a big | :52:40. | :52:43. | |
crowd around supporting her because Gordon Read the first of four | :52:44. | :52:48. | |
British players in finals action today. -- Gordon Reid. Andy Murray | :52:49. | :52:53. | |
walking out on Centre Court at 2pm, Heather Watson following that in the | :52:54. | :52:58. | |
Mixed Doubles final. Gordon Reid has won the wheelchair tennis tingles | :52:59. | :53:02. | |
and your Dan Wylie shortly coming out to play her doubles final. -- | :53:03. | :53:07. | |
and Jordanne Whiley. A bit of uncertainty and rain throwing us | :53:08. | :53:13. | |
into doubt, and getting everybody going for the covers but in the end | :53:14. | :53:17. | |
a sensational final and Gordon Reid showed great determination and | :53:18. | :53:23. | |
talent and incredible strength under pressure to hold serve, to serve it | :53:24. | :53:27. | |
out and take the title. We were talking yesterday and he was so well | :53:28. | :53:32. | |
aware that there is only one ever first Wimbledon wheelchair tennis | :53:33. | :53:37. | |
singles champion and he has ensured he has taken a title for Great | :53:38. | :53:41. | |
Britain and Scotland for his and friends. His family, and most of all | :53:42. | :53:47. | |
he has done it himself. He is a terrific athlete and great sportsman | :53:48. | :53:50. | |
and let's hope his friend Andy Murray can follow up, coverage | :53:51. | :53:58. | |
starting at 1pm on BC one. From us, thereby. -- 1pm on BBC One. | :53:59. | :54:01. |