It was another picture-perfect tournament on clay for Rob Shaw who won the 32nd edition of the German Open Berlin this past weekend. The Canadian Paralympian defeated Francisco Cayulef of Chile 6-3, 6-1 in the final to take home his fourth title of the season.  

As the No. 1 seed in Berlin, Shaw was awarded a bye in the first round, moving onto the quarter-finals where he soared past Italy’s Alberto Saja in straight sets. In the semi-finals, he had to fight his way past Ugur Altinel of Turkey in a three-set battle which led him to the finals where he was able to take on Cayulef with ease to claim the crown.

Shaw was very satisfied with his performance, feeling as though he and his team executed their plan perfectly throughout the tournament. 

“It’s always nice when you play your best tennis on the last day of the tournament,” Shaw said. “As a team, my coach and I developed a really effective strategy, and fortunately, I was able to execute on that plan. Hopefully, I can continue to play well next week in England but for now, I’m going to celebrate and enjoy the moment.”

Shaw is Canada’s No. 1-ranked wheelchair tennis player and was able to crack back into the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Top 10 ranking this past month at No. 9 in the quad category.

The Canadian is currently competing at the British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championship, in Nottingham, England, where he has moved onto the second round after defeating Gary Cox in straight sets to advance to the quarter-finals. He will next take on Koji Sugeno of Japan.

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