University of Stirling’s Anna McBride has won the women’s singles at the Australian Open’s Intellectual Disability Championships event for the third consecutive year.
The second-year sports scholar defeated her doubles partner, Kelly Wren, in the first round before knocking out Breanna Tunny in the semi-finals and Eva Blanc in the final.
McBride secured a 6-1,6-1 win over her final competitor, dropping only four games in her run to the title.
The Dunfermline-born tennis star now has three titles to her name- winning her first at Melbourne Park in 2023, and again in 2024.
In addition to these titles, the 21-year-old also won the women’s doubles twice in a row, but McBride and Wren narrowly missed out this year, finishing runner-up in their group.
The Grand Slam tennis competition is for players with intellectual impairments and deaf or hard of hearing taking place for the first time in 2023.
The event was organised in partnership with Virtus, the international sports federation for athletes with intellectual impairments, bringing together 16 elite players from across the world.
Anna is ranked as the women’s singles number one.
In September, she won gold at the Virtus World Tennis Championships in Annecy, France by defeating French number one, Blanc.
She prepared for the Australian Open by playing at the Hume Tennis Tournament, reaching the quarterfinals, and said prior to competing that she wanted to “enjoy my tennis” and “have lots of fun.”
Featured Image Credit: University of Stirling
