Stirling tennis scholar to defend titles at Australian Open
Anna McBride is current singles and doubles champion
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University of Stirling tennis star Anna McBride will defend her women’s singles and doubles titles at the Australian Open’s players with intellectual impairments (PWII) competition next week.
The second-year sports scholar – who won both titles in 2023 and 2024 – will return to Melbourne Park for this year’s competition, which runs 24-26 January.
She is joined in Australia by Maia Lumsden – a recent graduate of the University’s high-performance tennis programme – who is competing in the women’s doubles event of the main competition. Lumsden and Czech partner Anna Siskova won their first-round match today [Wednesday 15 January], defeating Varvara Gracheva (France) and Oksana Kalashnikova (Georgia) 6-4, 7-5.
Excited
Looking ahead to the PWII competition, Anna McBride, 21, who is studying a BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science, said: “I’m really excited. It was amazing to win the singles and doubles in 2023 and 2024 – it was a surreal feeling. I really hope I can do it again.
“The atmosphere is electric and environment is brilliant – to play on the same courts as the professionals is a great feeling. I want to go there and enjoy my tennis, and have lots of fun.”
David Bond, Head of Performance Sport at the University of Stirling, said: “Anna is an exceptional talent, and we wish her all the best as she seeks to defend her singles and doubles titles at the Australian Open. To have won both events in consecutive years is a huge achievement and her repeated success at the tournament reflects Anna's talent and dedication to her sport.
“We are proud to support Anna through a comprehensive package of support delivered through the University's high-performance tennis programme."
Earlier this year, Anna, from Dunfermline, finished runner-up with doubles partner Dom Iannotti in the cinch Championships Learning Disability Exhibition at the prestigious Queen’s Club in London. The pair went on to win gold in the mixed doubles at the Virtus World Tennis Championship in Annecy, France, where McBride also won gold in the II1 singles event.
PWII event
In 2023, in a landmark move for the world’s tennis stars with an intellectual or hearing impairment, the Australian Open became the first slam to hold PWII and deaf or hard of hearing (DHOH) events. After being crowned singles and women’s doubles champion in 2023, Anna returned last year and successfully defended her titles – defeating Kelly Wren 6-2, 6-0 in the final of the singles, before going onto win the women’s doubles with Sophia Schmidt.
Stirling sports scholarships
The University of Stirling is Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence, with world-class facilities providing the perfect training environment for the University’s sports scholars. The University offers sports scholarships as part of the largest high-performance sports programme in the UK. For more information, visit the University of Stirling website.