'A great week for Scottish tennis'
Scotland’s Gordon Reid has been “shocked” by the reaction of well-wishers following his Australian Open wheelchair singles title victory.
Reid, 24, who contracted Transverse Myelitis – a disease affecting the spinal chord – aged 13, defeated Joachim Gerard in Melbourne.
“It’s been a good couple of weeks,” Reid told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme.
“It was a nice feeling: it’s been a great week for Scottish tennis.”
Reid, who says he remains on “Australian time” following his return to Scotland, added: “I’m happy to be back in the UK and getting home later today to see everybody.
“I’ve been shocked by it really. It’s been fantastic the amount of media coverage involved and the amount of messages and support I’ve had.
“I’ve got to say a huge thanks to everybody who has wished me well and congratulated me.
“With this win in Australia, it’s great to see so many people supporting not only myself but also supporting wheelchair tennis as well.”
With Jamie Murray winning the men’s doubles title at the Australian Open and brother Andy reaching the final of the men’s singles before defeat by Novak Djokovic, Reid feels that Scottish tennis has received a shot in the arm.
He said: “It was a brilliant atmosphere and kind of felt we were taking over the place,” Reid said. “It was great to have Jamie and Andy there for the whole time, really.
“It kind of felt as if we were all enjoying each others’ success at the same time and felt more of a collective thing than individual accomplishments.
“I had a couple of friends out in Australia watching, who were travelling, but the majority of everyone else was back home in Helensburgh and Glasgow.”
On winning the singles final, he added: “Initially I was shocked and couldn’t believe it had happened.
“You can see in the video on match point that it takes me a second or two just to double check it’s actually match point and I’ve won it.
“After that, it’s just a great feeling. We put in a lot of hard work and effort behind the scenes back home.
“I’ve been in full-time training now for about five years.
“It’s great for all that hard work to pay off and enjoy moments like this.”