Andrew Lapthorne
Lapthorne in 2013
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| Full name | Andrew David Lapthorne |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) |
 United Kingdom
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| Born |
11 October 1990 Middlesex, England |
| Turned pro | 2005 |
| Official website | Official website |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 105-48 |
| Highest ranking | No. 2 (16 August 2010) |
| Current ranking | No. 3 |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 55–17 |
| Highest ranking | No. 1 (12 September 2011) |
| Current ranking | No. 1 |
| Grand Slam Doubles results | |
| Australian Open | W: (2011, 2012, 2014) |
| French Open | W: (2012) |
| Paralympic Games |
 Silver Medal (2012) |
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Medal record
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| Last updated on: 19 September 2016. | |
Andrew David Lapthorne (born 11 October 1990) is a British wheelchair tennis player. He took up wheelchair tennis in 2005, and entered the quad division in 2008. He is active in both singles and doubles tournaments, and has won multiple doubles grand slams alongside his partner Peter Norfolk. He competed at his first Summer Paralympics at London 2012 in the quad singles and in the quad doubles, in which he won a silver medal.
Lapthorne has cerebral palsy, and is confined to a wheelchair. He can walk for limited periods, but not very far and the condition has left him unable to straighten his arms fully. He joined a disabled football team at the age of eight, and also tried wheelchair basketball.
Lapthorne took up the sport full-time in 2005 after playing at a sports camp for people in wheelchairs. He was spotted by coaches from the Tennis Federation and became a professional player. In 2008, he registered in the quad division and in his first quad tournament he reached the semi-final of the 2008 Nottingham Indoor event. In 2009 he reached the finals of his first tournaments including defeating Johan Andersson, who was the silver medallist at the 2008 Summer Paralympics, in the quarter finals of the Florida Open.
He began teaming up with Peter Norfolk, to compete in the quad doubles. They appeared at the Florida Open in 2009 for the first time, and defeated the reigning Olympic champions in the first round before going on to win the tournament. Lapthorne won his first singles title during the same year, at the Wroclaw Cup, and also won the singles title at Prague Cup Czech Indoor resulting in completing his first full season as a quad player ranked ninth in the world.
In 2010, he won both the Melbourne Open singles titles and doubles alongside Norfolk. He reached the final of the Sydney Open and regularly appeared in the quarter finals of the year's Super Series tournaments. His world ranking in 2010 improved to number six, and he won the end of season Camozzi Doubles Masters, teaming with Norfolk once more. In 2011, he appeared at a Grand Slam for the first time, winning the doubles tournament with Norfolk which increased their ranking to number one in the world. It was the first occasion that an all British pair had won a quad doubles grand slam, as the duo defeated David Wagner and Nick Taylor by 6–3, 6–3, to win the title. It marked the fourth victory that Lapthorne and Norfolk had made during the previous two seasons over Wagner and Taylor, who are the reigning Paralympics champions. They retained the title a year later.
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