Reigning champion, Peter Norfolk of Great Britain reclaimed the gold medal as the second ever Quad Singles event wrapped up at the Olympic Green Tennis Center on Sunday, September 14. Norfolk's victory was followed by Dutch champion Esther Vergeer winning her third Women's Singles gold medal.
Quad Singles
Second seed Norfolk won the first gold medal in Athens and on Sunday, he did it again, claiming victory over Sweden's Johan Anderssson 6-2, 6-2. The Quad Singles division was only introduced to the Paralympic Games in 2004. Fourth seed Andersson distinguished himself at his first Paralympics with silver, winning Sweden's first Wheelchair Tennis medal.
"It's the Paralympics. It's always tough, every match," said Norfolk. "But I felt good. I know Johan's inexperienced, and I played on his nerves, I think, today."
In Saturday's bronze medal match, American doubles partners Nick Taylor and David Wagner were up against each other and Wagner took the bronze by winning 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
Women's Singles
Gold medalist in both Athens and Sydney, Vergeer remained unbeaten throughout the entire tournament after beating her teammate, No. 2 seed and relative newcomer Korie Homan 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (5) on Sunday. Yet it was a hard-won victory. In a nail-biting match that lasted two hours, Homan made Vergeer work for her gold, taking her right down to the wire. In the end, Vergeer appeared more composed than her less experienced opponent to win the tie-break. The last person to beat Vergeer in 2003 was Athens bronze medalist Daniela di Toro of Australia, who lost out to Vergeer at the Beijing Games in the first round 6-2, 6-0.
"When we had the tie-break I knew it was going to be over in a few minutes, either my way or her way," said Vergeer after the final. "From the second set on, I felt nervous and scared almost. Fear is probably one of your biggest opponents."
Another crowd favorite was the bronze medal match between the No. 5 seed Florence Gravellier of France and Jiske Griffioen of the Netherlands. Gravellier was the only non-Dutch woman to make into the final four. She had missed out on the bronze in Athens but won it this time, with the final result 6-3, 6-4.
The Men's Doubles final match was cancelled due to rain on Sunday evening at the Olympic Green Tennis Center.
(BOCOG September 15, 2008)