David Wagner of the United States won a tight match against Sarah Hunter of Canada in day one of the Quad Singles, while rain delayed play in the Men's Singles and Doubles events at the Olympic Green Tennis Center on Tuesday, September 9.
Top seed and Athens 2004 Paralympic silver medalist Wagner took Center Court with Hunter first up on Tuesday, in only the second Paralympic Games to feature the Quad Singles division. The close match went to three sets, won by Wagner, after just over an hour-and-a-half of play, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Wagner's last competition match before the Beijing Games was also a tight win against Hunter.
Second seed and winner of the inaugural Quad Singles Gold medalist in Athens, Peter Norfolk of Germany, easily won against Monique de Beer of the Netherlands, 6-1, 6-1 on Court One.
World No. 3, Nick Taylor of the United States, beat Boaz Kramer of Israel in Quad Singles 6-3, 6-3, but Israel had a win on Court Four, with Shraga Weinberg beating British player James Burdekin 6-2, 6-4. Weinberg has recently emerged as a potential challenger to Wagner and Norfolk. He beat them both in games earlier this season.
World No. 2 ranked, Athens Men's Singles gold medalist Robin Ammerlaan of the Netherlands easily beat Upali M. Rajakaruna of Sri Lanka, 6-0, 6-0.
Rain suspended play twice throughout the afternoon, with other Men's Singles matches delayed by several hours or postponed. The Men's Doubles were postponed completely.
Japan's Kunieda Shingo again lived up to his World No. 1 status by winning his second round match against Eric Stuurman of the Netherlands 6-2, 6-1. He says the rain improved his game, giving him a chance to step back and re-think his tactics.
(BOCOG September 9, 2008)