25-year-old has enjoyed incredible 12 months and hopes to finish with more silverware at Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre
Gordon Reid, 2016 Paralympic wheelchair tennis gold medallist, believes winning the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters tournament will the perfect ending to a sensational 12 months.
The 25-year-old Scot began the year by claiming the Australian Open title before then going on to triumph at the first ever Wimbledon singles event.
Reid claimed gold in the singles event at Rio and silver in the doubles competition too and now can’t wait for the Masters at Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre.
“This year has not been bad. It has been incredible and a bit of a whirlwind. I feel like I’ve gone from one thing to the next so it’s been a bit non-stop,” said the Glasgow resident ahead of the Masters competition which starts on November 30 and runs until December 4.
“It has gone better than I ever could have imagined and topped off in Rio with a couple of medals. The perfect ending would be coming back here in a few weeks time and winning the Masters on home soil and taking the number one ranking before the end of the year.”
Reid is determined to win the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters after suffering with illness at the event in 2015.
And the Scot will now come into the tournament with much more confidence and belief than ever before.
“Obviously I started the year by winning the Australian Open and I probably didn’t enjoy that one as much because there was a lot of pressure on me,” said Reid.
“It was more relief rather than enjoyment, but I loved every second of Wimbledon. I love playing on the grass. It is really fun and the support I had was massive and it was so much fun playing in front of a big crowd. The coverage we got was brilliant.
“Rio is different because you’re playing for your country so there is the added special element to it. You are part of a bigger team, Paralympics GB, so when we were winning the medals it felt like we were contributing to something rather than just ourselves.
“Then you get those special moments that you get nowhere else like when you get to sit on the podium and listen to the national anthem. It is quite emotional so it is quite difficult to choose the highlight, but it is a good problem to have.”
Before 2016 Reid had enjoyed huge success in wheelchair tennis, but struggled to make his mark in the grand slams tournaments.
A change of thinking has enabled the humble Scot to translate his clear ability in titles over the past memorable 12 months.
“I’ve put in a lot of years of hard work and the more you put in the more it pays off. I think it was an accumulation of that work coming together added with more experience of playing in those big matches, a little bit more maturity and a change in mindset this year,” explained Reid.
“I had won events at every level outside of the grand slams so I had beaten all the top players and I knew I could do it. I just never produced my best on the grand slam stage so I think instead of thinking about it like that, I realised I need to go out and enjoy it.
“The reason you train and play is for tournaments like the grand slams so I just wanted to go out there and let my tennis do the talking and the results take care of themselves rather than thinking ‘I really need to win, I haven’t won a grand slam yet’ so it was a change in mindset and after winning in Australia it gave me the freedom to enjoy the rest of the year.”
It has been an incredible 2016 for Reid and tennis fans wanting to see the double grand slam winner in action later this year at the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters can purchase their tickets for the tournament at www.tennisfoundation.org.uk.
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