Wheelchair Update: Venos Arrives at Birmingham Nationals In Form

Thomas Venos has his eyes on another sweep at the Birmingham National Wheelchair Tennis Championships this week at the Sobeys Atlantic Tennis Centre in Bedford, NS, fresh off an ITF victory on home soil in Fredericton, NB. 

The 25-year-old from British Columbia is the two-time defending champion in men’s singles at the national championships and three-time defending champion in doubles. He will be eyeing his third sweep in a row after claiming both titles each of the last two years.  

There are 13 competitors in the men’s singles this year in Bedford, making it the largest competition at the Birmingham National Championships. It starts out with a group stage where the players are divided into four groups, three groups of three and one group of four, with the top two in each group advancing to the knockout stage. 

Venos is the top seed and leads Group A. He kicked off the competition with a win dominant win over Paul Michael Novak early Thursday morning 6-0, 6-0. He is also the top seed in doubles alongside Barry Henderson in a seven-team elimination bracket, where they have the lone bye. 

At the 2023 national wheelchair championships, there was a sweep in each division and all three athletes are back in 2024. Along with Venos, Natalia Lanucha won both singles and doubles on the women’s side while Mitch McIntyre did the same in the quads. All three are returning to defend their titles this week. 

Lanucha has four challengers in the women’s singles event, which will be a round robin. Her opposition includes doubles partner and former national champion Anne-Marie Dolinar, rising star Frédérique Bérubé-Perron, Vicki Lee Morton and Marilyn Abbs. 

Bérubé-Perron, who won her first ITF titles in July and became the first Canadian junior ever to qualify for a wheelchair Grand Slam event at the US Open, is also one of three players competing in the junior draw this week. 

McIntyre is one of four players competing in the quad singles, which is also a round-robin event.

There are just two pairs competing in both the women’s and quad doubles. 

Click here for the full draws and results from the Birmingham National Wheelchair Tennis Championships. 

ITF Fredericton 

Venos will arrive at the Birmingham Nationals fresh off a victory at the Sure Grip International Wheelchair Tennis Open, an ITF Futures event, in Fredericton last week. 

The 25-year-old was the top seed and cruised to the title, beating fellow Canadian  Henderson 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals and American Jason Keatseangslip 6-3, 6-3 in the final. It is the third ITF singles title of 2024 for Venos and his seventh overall. 

“Another good match for me today. It was a very similar match to yesterday’s where I knew if I could hit my shots I would win,” said Venos after the final. “Like yesterday’s match, I once again had a slower start and a dip halfway through the second set. But I weathered the storm and quickly bounced back. I’m playing well and will look to improve on this form going into nationals”     

Read also: Revisiting Rafael Nadal’s Five Titles at the National Bank Open

It was a sweep for Venos in New Brunswick as he also won the doubles title with Henderson. There were only three teams in the round-robin event and the Canadians finished atop the group to claim the trophy. 

The title is Venos’ seventh doubles crown of 2024. With that win, he has now more than doubled his career haul this year alone as he entered the season with six total ITF doubles titles, a number he has now increased to 13. 

Shaw Heading to Arnhem 

Rob Shaw will cap off his 2024 season at the Wheelchair Masters event in Arnhem, Netherlands. It was announced last week that the Canadian qualified as part of the eight-player singles field at the year-end championships, the wheelchair equivalent of the ATP and WTA Finals.  

He currently sits at No. 7 in the ITF quad rankings, one spot back of his career high. The top eight players in the rankings qualified for Arnhem and will compete from Nov. 11 to 17. 

In 2024, Shaw has won two singles titles, including the biggest win of his career at the ITF 1 Series event in Geneva in July, and reached the quarter-finals of the Paralympics. 

Shaw has played at the Wheelchair Masters each of the last two years. He was eliminated in the group stage both times. The 34-year-old is also a two-time runner-up in doubles although he is not entered in 2024.  

The Wheelchair Tennis Masters is the largest wheelchair tennis event ever won by a Canadian. Sarah Hunter claimed back-to-back quad doubles titles in 2003-2004.