Wagner Completes Career Slam with First Wimbledon Win

On Friday at Wimbledon, David Wagner crossed off the one outstanding item on his long and decorated wheelchair tennis resume: a Wimbledon title.

In the second official staging of the Quad wheelchair tournament at the Championships, Wagner and British doubles partner Andy Lapthorne were victorious over Dylan Alcott and Sam Schroder, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, for their second Grand Slam win of the season and seventh together all-time. Lapthorne and Wagner won the Quad demonstration event in 2018 before it was added to Wimbledon the following year.

After winning eight of the first nine games of the match, the American-British pair found themselves 3-1 down in the final set before they won five of the last six games. 

"We campaigned long and hard for [the Quad event at Wimbledon] and I'm hoping that the guys who decided that we can come and play are seeing that it's entertaining, that people are getting into the matches... Whenever I come here and play I feel so loved and since I’ve been here I’ve had amazing support and the courts are always full," Lapthorne said on-court after the match.

"The [first] set definitely wasn't reflective of how those guys were playing. David and I got it going early and played well to win that first set and then it was tough from there."

Despite being largely unable to pracitce together for much of the past year-plus as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lapthorne and Wagner have had a successful Grand Slam season so far: they were also runners-up at the Australian Open before winning the next two Slams in personal milestones. Wagner helped his partner complete the career Grand Slam in Paris before Lapthorne returned the favor in London.

"Training is tough when you can't be together, especially being from two different countries. We practice when we can, on the courts when we can, and we make the most of it when we can. It's the best we can do," Wagner added. "Just trusting each other out there, being positive, keeping our heads up when we play, pumping each other up makes a big difference even if you don't have a lot of practice."

In the singles event, Wagner was beaten in the semifinals by Alcott, who went on to win the title over Schroder. Wagner and Lapthorne later played in a thrilling third-place match which was won by the Brit in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Photo courtesy of ©AELTC/Ian Walton.