Photo : Paul Zimmer/ITF
Rob Shaw’s bid for a medal at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris came to an abrupt end on Monday in the quarter-finals of the quad singles wheelchair tennis event as he was defeated by world No. 2 Niels Vink of the Netherlands in straight sets.
Vink, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion including earlier this summer at Wimbledon, dominated the match from start to finish, never giving Shaw a look on serve and applying constant pressure on return in a 6-0, 6-0 victory.
A strong serving day from the Dutchman made life difficult for Shaw. Vink lost just six points on serve in the entire match, one of which was a double fault, and never faced a break point. He was also ruthless on return, converting all six of his break point opportunities.
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It took very little time for Vink to take control of the match. In Shaw’s opening service game, the Dutchman hit back-to-back winners to go up love-30 and the Canadian was never able to claw him back. Vink hit another winner to seal the break for a 2-0 lead.
While cruising on serve, Vink was seemingly able to find winners at will on return. He hit four to break for a 4-0 lead and then wrapped up the set with three in a row on the Canadian’s serve.
In both sets, the only look Shaw had on return was in his opponent’s opening service game when he managed to get to 30, but he never got more than two points in a return game in the match. When the Dutchman broke again for a 2-0 lead in the second set and then consolidated to love, it seemed clear that there was no road back for the Canadian.
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Reaching the quarter-finals was still the best Paralympic result in Shaw’s career. His first-round win over Ymanitu Silva was his first-ever match win at the Paralympics. Shaw was the lone Canadian wheelchair tennis player competing in Paris.
