Andy Lapthorne: I believe it’s my time
Brit Andy Lapthorne has made a name for himself as the ‘comeback king’ on tour and though he finished as runner-up in the British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships to 16-year-old Niels Vink, he is still positive about his results.
"I believe it's my time. Me and my team we're building something special here and if I can go out and compete for every ball when I play I'll give myself a chance,” he said.
Overcoming nemesis Sam Schroder in three sets, he spoke about overcoming his demons mentally. "I knew if I could stop him getting to five I could get myself back in it," he said. "He's a player that has the ability to take the racket out of your hand and you know you have to get the first strike but it's a hard thing to do against Sam, it takes heart and bravery to take the ball on the way I did at the end.”
"Of course I'm the more experienced player but if he'd won that would have given him three wins in a row over me and that would be really hard to come back from so that was a big win for me and he'll remember that one."
He ended by saying, "The semi-final match was about proving to him and all the other players that are watching that I'm not an easy touch and I'm the number one seed here for a reason, I wasn't going to give up.”
"Now all those guys that were watching us play, they know the next time we play each other that 'Lappo's never going to quit'.”
"You almost get that thing that Alfie's (Hewett) got on a lot of people in the men's division, where they can be a set and 5-0 up, and they know they can't even let him have a game, because if they do, all of a sudden the demons are there for them and he finds a way back in - that's kind of what I'm trying to create."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Kaonbq
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