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Five years on from his Grand Slam singles final debut, Joachim Gerard can finally smile with his first singles crown after winning the Australian Open ⒸGetty ImagesBy Ros Dumlao | For the IPC
With one yell, Belgium’s Joachim Gerard released years of emotional baggage.
The Australian Open title – Gerard’s first career Grand Slam singles crown - was five years since his wheelchair tennis Major final debut, and five months since his heart-break Roland Garros loss.
But even deeper, it was exactly two years since the loss of his former coach Marc Grandjean.
“I don’t know why I said it (an expletive in French), but it was unbelievable,” Gerard said. “When Alfie Hewett s shot went out, I let everything go out – the stress, the nervousness, and many years of waiting. I was so happy. I was also sad because my ex-coach wasn’t there. It’s all emotions. But for the most part I was happy.”
Australian Open semifinalist Brady thinks quarantine helped
February 17, 2021 GMT
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Jennifer Brady was one of 72 Australian Open entrants forced into a two-week hard quarantine no leaving the hotel room at all, for any reason because they potentially were exposed to COVID-19 on chartered flights bringing them to the country in January.
And Brady is the only one who made it all the way to the singles semifinals at Melbourne Park.
The 25-year-old American thinks the unusual experience might even have helped her perform as well as she did along the way to a matchup in the final four on Thursday night against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic.
Alfie Hewett was denied a second title in Melbourne after he lost a thrilling men’s wheelchair singles final to Joachim Gerard by a 6-0 4-6 6-4 scoreline.
The 23-year-old teamed up with Scotland’s Gordon Reid on Tuesday to secure a British record-equalling 10th grand slam doubles title as a team.
A day later and Hewett was out to win the Australian Open for the first time but looked set for a whitewash when he trailed 0-4 in the second set after he lost the opener 6-0. While an admirable reply was produced, he lost out in the decider to finish as runner-up.