Top seed Schroder heads Masters quad singles semi-finalists

A little over four years ago Sam Schroder had just booked his plane ticket to London after qualifying for what should have been his NEC Wheelchair Singles Masters debut. However, Schroder’s life was about to take a more sinister turn and on the very day that he booked that plane ticket the young Dutchman received the news that he had been diagnosed with colon cancer.

Fast forward to November 2019, and with Schroder having long since undergone courses of chemotherapy and radiation and subsequent surgery to remove his colon, he had made a highly impressive return to the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour. So much so that he finally made his Singles Masters and Doubles Masters debuts at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida, reaching the singles semi-finals before bowing out to his compatriot Niels Vink.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Schroder has had to wait another two years before having his second crack at a Masters title, but he is back in the semi-finals in Orlando after a 7-5 6-0 win over USA’s Bryan Barten in his third and final group match. However, it was not all plain sailing for the 22-year-old after an uncharacteristically slow start.

“Bryan started off playing really well the first few games. He hit a lot of really good shots, but thankfully I found my way back into the game,” said top seed Schroder.  “From being 3-0 down to 5-3 up and then 5-5, it was a real rollercoaster, but in the second set I was able to take over. I’m playing pretty good. If I had to play against myself from two years ago then I would probably win 6-0 6-0. There have been a lot of improvements, for sure.”

Schroder advances to the quad singles semi-finals from round-robin Group A, alongside Barten’s countryman and 11-time Singles Masters champion David Wagner, who beat Brazil’s Ymanitu Silva 6-4 6-3.

Meanwhile, Vink topped Group B and moves into the last four with Britain’s four-time Masters finalist Andy Lapthorne. Lapthorne will be Schroder’s opponent in the last four.

Unlike the men’s and women’s singles, for which the semi-finalists will be decided on Thursday’s fifth day of play in Orlando, no Dutch player has ever won the quad singles title at the Masters, but should this year’s tournament pan out according to the seeding, then history will be made.

“We’re number one and number two seeds, so if things go as they should then we will play each other in the final. I think we should be locked in for the final in doubles, too,” added Schroder as he ponders a repeat of the Dutch success at the Tokyo Paralympics, where he was the quad singles silver medallist, Vink was the bronze medallist and together they became the first Dutch partnership to win the quad doubles gold medal.

However, for a while, Japan’s Koji Sugeno suggested that he might overturn Orlando second seed Vink after taking the second set of their last Group B match. But in a repeat of the Tokyo bronze medal match, Vink ultimately won the points that mattered to maintain his 100 per win record in Orlando 6-3 4-6 6-3.

However, there were no such problems for world No. 6 Lapthorne, who wrapped up his effort in the round-robin phase of the competition with his first ever 6-0 6-0 win over Kyu-Seung Kim, stretching his unbeaten career record against the Korean to nine matches.

For now, the quad singles draw is working out according to form, but after the best part of two years that have been affected by the pandemic, Schroder and the world’s top players are just grateful to be back at the ITF’s year-end championship.

“It’s great to be here again. We couldn’t be here last year because of Covid, but I’m really happy to be back here for the second time. It’s a great tournament to be at, the facilities are great. It’s a lot of fun playing here. They’re all high-level matches, of course,” said the world No. 2.