Evans Maripa finishes in the top four teams
WESTDENE - South Africa's Number 1 ranked men's wheelchair tennis player, Evans Maripa finished in the top four teams at the UNIQLO Doubles Masters recently.
South Africa’s Number 1 ranked men’s wheelchair tennis player, Evans Maripa together with his doubles partner Shingo Kunieda from Japan, finished fourth at the 2014 UNIQLO Wheelchair which was held at the Marguerite Tennis Pavilion in Mission Viejo, Southern California from 5 until 9 November.
Maripa and Kunieda were one of only eight men’s pairings that have qualified for the tournament. The duo started their round robin with a stunning win over the Brazilian duo of Medeiros and Rodrequez 6–4, 6–0.
They also won two of their three round robin matches, losing only to the French Open Grand Slam winners Joachim Gerard (BEL) and Stephane Houdet (FRA) 3–6, 4–6.
In the semi-finals Maripa and Kunieda faced the winners of pool 2 Jeremiasz (FRA) and Reid (GBR), losing in a closely contested match 1–6, 6–4, 2–6. The third and fourth place play-off saw Maripa and Kunieda facing Fernandez (ARG) and Peiffer (FRA).
However, Fernandez and Peiffer took third place for beating Maripa and Kunieda 6–1, 6–1.
The Roland Garros champions Gerard and Houdet beat Jeremiaz and Reid 6–4, 6–1 in the finals to win their first doubles masters title together and Houdet becoming the first player to win three back-to-back doubles masters titles.
“It was great to qualify and participate in the UNIQLO World Wheelchair Tennis Doubles Masters, especially, to play with my partner Shingo.
“I am happy with my performance and came back with valuable lessons learned and experience gained,” said Maripa.
He also stated that he looks forward to getting back into his training schedule and hopes to keep improving on his games.
Wheelchair Tennis South Africa (WTSA) ‘s director and coach Holger Losch praised Maripa for his performance. “Maripa did well to qualify and finish in the top four teams in his debut appearance at the UNIQLO World Doubles Masters.”
