Lapthorne and Whiley knocked out of Masters after defeats

Andy Lapthorne and Jordanne Whiley both exited the Wheelchair Tennis Masters at the group stage after defeats on Friday.

Lapthorne, from Eastcote, was beaten in three sets by South African Lucas Sithole in a match that would decide who goes through to the quad singles final.

The west Londoner lost the first set 6-2 but responded superbly by winning the second set 6-4.

Lapthorne had been beaten in his opening round-robin match by David Wagner on Wednesday, though he kept himself in the tournament by defeating Itay Erenlib on Thursday.

However, in what became effectively a one-set shoot-out, it was Sithole who got the crucial break to win the match 6-2 4-6 6-3.

In the women’s singles, Whiley was, on paper, a strong favourite against Sabine Ellerbrock, who had lost her first two group matches.

The Ickenham-based 23-year-old could even afford to lose in three sets, or even two tie-breaks, and still go through to the semi-finals.

But US Open champion Whiley went down 6-3 6-4, after what she called a “shocker” of a performance, and allowed the German to sneak into the last four ahead of her.