Canada’s No. 1 ranked quad wheelchair tennis player, Rob Shaw (No. 7) defeated Koji Sugeno of Japan to claim the Birmingham Wheelchair Tennis Classic title in Montreal, Canada on Sunday.
As the tournament’s No. 1 seed, Shaw received a bye in the opening round, advancing to the semi-finals against Israel’s Elay Chayot, he defeated Chayot 6-0, 6-0.
In the championship round, Shaw battled back from a troubling first set against Sugeno, to win the match 5-7, 7-5, 6-3, clinching the Birmingham Classic crown.
“Today was just as much a battle of the mind as it was a battle of the body. Admittedly I did not do a great job of controlling my emotions on court. Far too many times I let things out of my control impact the quality of my tennis. Luckily, I managed to dig deep on big points and come out with a much-needed tournament win.”
Shaw has had a historical run this summer climbing the ITF ranks from No. 11 to a career-high ranking of No. 7. As a result, he will appear at the NEC Wheelchair Singles Masters in Netherland this November. He is the first Canadian wheelchair player to qualify for a Masters event since Sarah Hunter, former world No. 2, in 2004. Shaw has also represented Canada in wheelchair tennis at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
His next event will be at the Sardinia Open in Alghero, Italy next week, where he will look to claim his seventh ITF title this year.
