Britain's Esah Hayat reaches World Deaf Tennis Championships boys' singles final

Great Britain’s Esah Hayat ensured a medal on the fifth day of the World Deaf Tennis Championships at Nottingham Tennis Centre as he made the boys’ final.

The fifth day of competition also saw the finalists decided in the men’s and women’s doubles, the mixed doubles and youth doubles.

Hayat, who reached the second round of the men’s singles earlier in the week, beat Alexandre Sanchez of France 8-2 in his boys’ singles semi-final as the World Deaf Youth Tennis Championships continued.

“I’m really happy to be in the final and I played really well today. Tactically I played the game well today and that led to me winning. I’m excited about the final tomorrow and I’ve been devising some tactics with my coach, so I’m looking forward to it,” said Hayat, who plays Germany’s Johannes Behr in Saturday’s final.

“I played my opponent last year and lost to him 6-4, 6-4, so it was quite close. I was really small back then and I’ve grown a lot so hopefully I can beat him tomorrow.”

In the other boy’s semi-final Behr beat Russia’s Yaroslav Revin 8-4.

In the girls’ singles semi-finals 12-year-old Brit Phoebe Suthers, who also reached the second round of the women’s singles earlier in the week, put up a fine effort against Slovakia’s women’s singles quarter-finalist Jana Janosikova. However, Janosikova eventually prevailed 8-3 as she booked her place in the final against Israel’s Rotem Ashkenaz.

The men’s doubles semi-finals saw French second seeds Mikael Laurent and Vincent Novelli beat Australian fourth seeds Glen Flindell and John Lui 6-1, 6-4. The French duo will meet third seeds Robert Gravogl and Mario Kargl of Austria in the final after Gravogl and Kargl battled back to defeat unseeded American duo Daniel Hangstefer and Samuel Kirk 5-7, 6-1, 6-2.

The women’s doubles final and mixed doubles final will be without Germany’s multiple Deaflympic and European singles and doubles champion Heike Albrecht, who had to retire from her women’s doubles semi-final with an injury.

American top seeds Laura Chapman and Emily Hangstefer edged a fist set tie-break against Albrecht and Verena Fleckenstein and were a break up in the second set when the German partnership had to retire. Chapman and Hangstefer will play Chinese Taipei’s Chui-Mei Ho and Chia-Wen Lin in the final. Ho and Lin won their semi-final against Spanish sisters Beatriz and Raquel Villamandos-Lorenzo 6-4, 6-2.

Emily Hangstefer and her brother Daniel will also contest the mixed doubles final. The USA’s 2013 Deaflympic silver medallists were due to meet Albrecht and Urs Breitenberger in their semi-final before being awarded a walkover due to Albrecht’s injury. Albrecht is due to play her women’s singles semi-final on Saturday’s sixth day of play, then the men’s singles finalists will also be decided.

Saturday’s action will also feature the mixed doubles final, when Hangstefer and Hangstefer will play Chinese Taipei’s Chun-Wei Wang and Ho, who won their semi-final against German second seeds Sebastian Schaffer and Fleckenstein 6-1, 6-4.

More than 70 players from 20 countries are taking part in the 1st World Deaf Tennis Championships.

Organised by the Tennis Foundation, Great Britain’s leading tennis charity, in association with UK Deaf Sport, the 1st World Deaf Tennis Championships is sanctioned by the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD). For more details visit www.worlddeaftennischamps.co.uk.