Australian Open: Dunfermline's Anna McBride wins title double

The talented 20-year-old, who is a student at the University of Stirling, picked up victories in both the women's singles and doubles for players with intellectual impairment (PWII).

First year sports scholar Anna, from Dunfermline, successfully defended the trophies she picked up last year at the inaugural hosting of the tournament.

In a landmark move for the world's tennis stars with an intellectual or hearing impairment, the Australian Open, in 2023, became the first 'Grand Slam' to host PWII and deaf or hard of hearing (DHOH) events.

READ MORE: Dunfermline tennis star Anna aims to serve up Australian Open title double

Played on the same hardcourts at Melbourne Park which hosts the Australian Open, the PWII women's singles tournament, which had eight entries, began with a round robin before moving into a knockout phase, with matches played in a best-of-three tie-break format.

In the doubles, matches moved straight to knockout and were played as best-of-two tie-break sets.

Before the tournament Anna, who was the top seeded player in the women's singles, said she was "both excited and nervous about competing" in what she described as "an amazing opportunity".

Last year, in the inaugural event, Anna won the women's singles (pictured) and doubles titles. (Image: Tennis Australia.)

She said that her experiences 12 months ago had made her feel "more confident" about her chances of repeating her previous successes, of which she commented: "I was a bit overwhelmed as it was my first time, and I had only recovered from Covid a short time beforehand. However, once I got started, it was such a fantastic experience to be in that environment – it was very energetic and inspiring.

"It was an amazing experience being around the best players in the world. "

Anna, who is a member of the Great Britain Learning Disability National Squad, dropped just two games across her three women's singles round-robin matches to reach the semi-finals of the singles, where she defeated her 2023 doubles partner, Andriana Petrakis, 6-0, 6-1.

World number four Kelly Wren awaited in the final, but the Australian was unable to offer much resistance as Anna retained her crown with a 6-2, 6-0 victory.

Anna was successful in the women's singles and doubles for a second successive year. (Image: Tennis Australia / Mark Dadswell.)

She then teamed-up in the doubles with Germany's Sophia Schmidt, who she defeated in her first singles match of the tournament, and the duo won the title with a 5-7, 7-6 (5), 10-7 success in the final over GB's Lily Mills and her Belgian partner Hanne Lavreysen.

Anna, who was supported at the competition by her parents, the Lawn Tennis Association’s Disability Competitions Manager Sophie Hall, and five teammates from Team GB, reinforced her world number one position in the VIRTUS world rankings for players with intellectual impairments thanks to her latest success.

Upon her return from Australia, she is set to represent her university, where she is studying a BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science degree, at British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) competition.

David Bond, head of performance sport at the University of Stirling, said: "Congratulations to Anna on retaining both her singles and doubles titles at the PWII event at the Australian Open.

"Anna is a very talented player and has worked hard in the build-up to the tournament, so we are delighted to see her return with the silverware once again; which is nothing short of what she deserves.

"Hopefully she will take a lot of confidence from her stellar performances in Australia when she arrives back to Stirling, ready to compete in the business end of the British Universities and Colleges Sport season for the university."