Richard Green won the day’s only all-British first round match as the 31st British Open got underway, the former National champion beating Antony Cotterill in straight sets to book a place in his second quad singles quarter-final in Nottingham since 2017.

With Cotterill set to become a two-time Paralympian next month in Tokyo, Green beat the British No. 2 for just the second time, prevailing 7-6(6), 6-4 to book a last eight meeting with the USA’s four-time British Open champion David Wagner. Gren said:

“It was really good, I kept it together and played the way I wanted to play. It’s great to get some Super Series points secured and to now have another match. I play Wagner next and so I have nothing to lose.”

James Shaw was unable to capitalise on a bright start to his opening match as he sought to join Green and second seed Andy Lapthorne in the quarter-finals. Shaw led 2018 Asian Para Games gold medallist Kyu-Seung Kim 5-2 in their opening set, before the South Korean fought back for a 7-5, 6-3 win that earns him a last eight encounter against Dutch top seed Sam Schroder.

On a day when three of Britain’s youngest stars netted valuable experience against some of the world’s very best, the USA’s Bryan Barten and Japan’s Koji Sugeno completed the quad quarter-final line-up. Sugeno will be the first opponent this year for five-time British Open finalist Lapthorne after dropping just two games to 19-year-old Greg Slade.

Meanwhile, Britain’s top two ranked junior boys had difficult assignments against Top 10 players. World No.2 Junior Ben Bartram slipped to a 6-0, 6-3 loss to Japan’s world No. 9 Takashi Sanada, while Dahnon Ward took two games off two-time Wimbledon champion Stefan Olsson of Sweden.

While Green won his all-British contest against Cotterill, there was an all-Spanish men’s singles match-up on the opening day as Martin de la Puente beat Daniel Caverzaschi 6-4, 6-4. De la Puente goes forward to a second round meeting with Japan’s seven-time British Open champion Shingo Kunieda.

Wednesday’s second day of play sees leading Brits Alfie Hewett, Gordon Reid, Jordanne Whiley and Lucy Shuker all begin their men’s and women’s singles campaigns as the seeded players make their tournament debuts.  

Already former British Open men’s singles finalists, Hewett and Reid begin their 2021 challenges against Dutchman Ruben Spaargaren and Japan’s Takuya Miki, respectively, while two-time British Open champion Whiley also faces a Japanese challenge in her opening women’s singles match, which sees her take on Manami Tanaka.