London 2012 Paralympics: Reid aims to match Murray’s two medals

FELLOW Scot Andy Murray managed to balance successful singles and doubles campaigns in the Olympic Games, and 
Gordon Reid is confident he can now follow suit.

The wheelchair tennis ace yesterday progressed into the quarter-finals of the doubles competition with partner Marc McCarroll in front of a passionate home support and is also in the third round of the singles at Eton Manor.

The 21-year-old and McCarroll, who are seeded seventh, beat Belgian pair Mike Denayer and Joachim Gerard 6-4, 6-3 to set up a meeting with fourth seeds Frederic Cattaneo and Nicolas Peifer of France.

Reid, seeded ninth in the singles draw, will first play Sweden’s sixth seed Stefan Olsson for the chance to reach his second quarter-finals. “It’s not difficult at all to balance both the singles and doubles,” said Reid. “Both are equally important to me. I know I have a chance in both so I’m giving my everything. I know I can compete with everyone in the world, and we, as a doubles team, can compete against whoever we play.

“The last time we played them [Cattaneo and Peifer] was at the doubles masters and I think we lost 7-5 in the third set, so we know we can compete against them. In this form we will be going in very confident.”

Murray found himself under huge home expectation, and that is something Alexandria-born Reid is now experiencing. “The crowd was going mental for us at every point,” said Reid, who now lives in Helensburgh. “Every point means something to us, and something to them, so we are giving everything we have for each point and the crowd is helpful.

“I play my best tennis under pressure and I think I have proved that again. I hit some of my best shots and played some of my best points towards the end when it was tight, so I thrive off the pressure, and off the crowd, too.”