Hunter Thompson defeated shut buddy Hayden Ballard to win his third straight singles gold medal on the Virtus World Tennis Championships in Kazakhstan. .
Astana, Kazakhstan, 16 Could 2025 | Jackson Mansell
Hunter Thompson created historical past in Astana, Kazakhstan, changing into the primary PWII-3 (gamers with an mental impairment) athlete to win three consecutive singles gold medals on the Virtus World Tennis Championships.
With stress mounting on the 21-year-old to keep up his PWII-3 dominance, Thompson defeated compatriot Hayden Ballard 6-7(3) 6-1 [10-8] within the closing to emerge victorious.
“It does really feel actually good [to win a third straight gold medal],” the II-3 world No.1 stated. “Clearly, it does add to the stress a bit, making an attempt to maintain the repetition going of making an attempt to win back-to-back.
“As soon as I do get by way of that closing match and do win it, it’s such a aid to have the ability to get that win and convey that dwelling.”
The proposition of prevailing in opposition to Ballard, Thompson’s doubles accomplice, proved tough given their information of their opponent’s recreation. Shut buddies off the courtroom, Thompson and Ballard confronted off in a good closing on the 2024 World Championships, which additionally ended 10-8 within the tremendous tiebreak.
Expertise in these conditions helped ease the stress on the 21-year-old, en path to putting gold.
“Taking part in in opposition to [Ballard] within the finals or semifinals, it does get powerful as a result of we all know one another’s recreation fairly effectively,” Thompson stated. “In all probability understanding what his traditional plan is, particularly in shut tiebreaks [helped Thompson get over the line]. He undoubtedly likes to try to get into the web and win it from there.
“It was the very same rating final yr in Annecy (France). He did the very same factor then, and I simply had a sense he was going to do the identical factor once more.”
The duo raked in Australia’s different gold medal in one in all eight medals for the inexperienced and gold. Thompson and Ballard misplaced simply six video games all through the match to win their second straight II-3 doubles gold medal.
> READ: Australian crew named for 2025 Virtus World Tennis Championships
Archie Graham, Kelly Wren and Timothy Gould had been the opposite fundamental contributors to Australia’s World Championship haul. Graham received three medals, whereas Wren claimed two.
| 2025 Virtus World Tennis Championships Australian medallists |
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| Gold | Hunter Thompson (II-3 males’s singles) Hayden Ballard/Hunter Thompson (II-3 males’s doubles) |
| Silver | Andriana Petrakis/Kelly Wren (II-1 girls’s doubles) Archie Graham/Kelly Wren (II-1 blended doubles) Timothy Gould (II-2 males’s singles) Timothy Gould/Sai Aman Ramadani (II-2 males’s doubles) Hayden Ballard (II-3 males’s singles) |
| Bronze | Archie Graham (II-1 males’s singles) Archie Graham/ Damian Phillips (II-1 males’s doubles) |
Classifications within the PWII pathway: II-1 (Mental Incapacity), II-2 (Down syndrome), II-3 (Autism).
> VIEW: Full outcomes from the 2025 Virtus World Tennis Championships
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