British Tennis Watch – Week 2

In this long-running series of articles, we will be reviewing all the action in the world of British tennis, from Grand Slams to Juniors. 

We’ll be trying to cover all manner of tennis at various different levels, with a focus on British prospects. For now, though, we will be keeping our focus on Singles action, and putting Doubles to one side except for big events such as the Grand Slams.

The article is split into different levels – these levels are based on the number of points available for the winner of each tournament. For example, a tournament at ‘250 Level’ means there are 250 ranking points available for winning player.

Please let us know if we miss anyone off by emailing me at tennis@p.ublished.com.

Week 2 – 10-16 January 2023

In this week’s edition:

No Brits make it through qualifying for the Australian Open
Norrie makes the final in Auckland before losing to a veteran
The first home Futures event takes place in Loughborough with plenty of British interest.

Grand Slam: The Australian Open

With the first Grand Slam of the year already well underway at the time of writing (Monday morning UK time), last week saw qualifying for the event take place, with nine Brits in total vying for a chance at making it through to the main draw Down Under. Unfortunately, it didn’t go according to plan for any of our British men and women, with none of them managing to battle their way through a tough qualifying field.

Liam Broady, Ryan Peniston, and Paul Jubb were the three male hopes in Oz this week, with Broady having qualified last year only to face Nick Kyrgios in the first round – something you may have been reminded of if you’ve watched the first episode of Netflix’s Break Point in the last few days. This year, though, all three men lost in the first of three qualifying rounds – Broady fell in three closely fought sets against the fourth seed Emilio Gomez of Ecuador, eventually going down 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(7) despite serving 11 aces, while Peniston failed to convert nine of his ten break point opportunities in a straight sets defeat to Canadian Alexix Galarneau, and Jubb’s losing streak was extended to six tour matches after losing to eventual qualifier Dalibor Svrcina of Czechia. 

The women did better, with three girls picking up decent ranking points with at least one win in qualifying, although none of them were able to make the main draw. Kate Swan, Sonay Kartal, and Heather Watson were all eliminated in the first round of qualies, with Katie Boulter stumbling in the second round. It was down to Jodie Burrage and Yuriko Miyazaki in the final round of qualifying to elevate themselves into the main draw. Miyazaki was drawn against American CoCo Vandeweghe, the former world number 9, and put up one hell of a fight. She eventually went down in a final set tiebreaker but should hold her head high after an excellent performance against a dangerous former top ten player. Burrage, seeded 26th in the qualifying draw, was up against France’s Selena Jancijevic, 20, but ended up making too many unforced errors – 45 in total during the match – to go down 6-3 1-6 6-2.

Not to worry, though – there’s still plenty of British interest already in the main draw, including British number one players Cam Norrie and Emma Raducanu.

ATP/WTA Main Tour

250 Level

With many Brits focused on preparations (or qualifying) for the Australian Open this week, there were only four men in action at ATP 250 level this week, but two of them had very encouraging weeks ahead of their efforts at the first Slam of the year.

Cameron Norrie returned to the country of his birth, New Zealand, for the ATP 250 event in Auckland, and was two games from winning the title before his veteran opponent rolled back the year to snatch it from him. Norrie had a brilliant week in Auckland, enjoying victories of Jiri Lehecka and Marcos Giron in the early rounds before a straight-sets victory over American Jenson Brooksby saw him line up against 36-year-old Richard Gasquet in the final. Norrie and Gasquet shared the first two sets, but Norrie raced into a 4-1 lead in the decider and looked to be on his way to a title that would have meant a great deal to him. However, Gasquet, whose one-handed backhand remains a thing of beauty even after all these years, piled on the pressure as Norrie tightened up, and won five games on the spin to clinch an unlikely title – and the title of current French number one in the process!

Meanwhile, over in Australia at the second consecutive tournament in Adelaide, Jack Draper reached the semi-finals in another encouraging week for the up-and-coming youngster. Draper actually beat Karen Khachanov – whom he lost to in last week’s tournament in Adelaide – to reach the semi finals, but was out-hit by lucky loser Soon Woo Kwon in the semis, who produced some quite remarkable winners in the final set to reach the final at Draper’s expenses. Meanwhile, Kyle Edmund’s return from injury continues to be slow going – he lost in the opening round to Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia, while Dan Evans, the fifth seed, will have been disappointed to lose in straight sets to American Mackenzie McDonald in the opening round.

ATP Challenger Tour / WTA/ITF Futures Tour

75 Level

Jay Clarke will drop out of the world’s top 250 this week after failing to fully defend 50 points from a tournament this time last year. He was in Portugal for the CH75 in Oeiras, and he was able to get a straight sets win in the opening round before losing to Italian Lorenzo Giustino 6-3 7-6(4) in the second round, picking up just seven points as a result.

Meanwhile, in Thailand, Stuart Parker was unable to join Billy Harris in the main draw of the CH75 in Nonthaburi after losing to Jason Jung in the final qualifying round. Harris lost the opening set of his first round match against Frenchman Valentin Royer before retiring with an injury. We wish Billy all the best with his recovery.

70 Level

There were a potential of 70 points available for three British ladies in Tallinn, Estonia this week. Veteran Emily Webley-Smith, now 38 years old but a former top 250 player, lost 6-1 6-1 in her first qualifying round match, but 25-year-old Freya Christie came through qualifying and her first round match to reach the last 16 in what should be considered a good week for her. She eventually lost 6-1 6-2 to Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium, the former world number 12, who went on to win the title. Eden Silva was the other Brit in action in Estonia – she lost her first round match narrowly, 6-4 in the third, against Czech Dominika Salkova.

50 Level

Strangely enough, there were Men’s and Women’s competitions in Loughborough this week with plenty of British interest, but the ranking points available on offer were different for each. The women were playing for a maximum 50 points, with more points available per round than the Men’s event, which topped out at 25 points for the winner. As such, the two tournaments will be covered in separate sections.

As you can imagine at a home event, there were lots of British women taking part in the event in Loughborough, many of whom were also here at the UK Pro League event last week. The most notable performance came from 22-year-old Eliz Maloney, the sixth seed, who battled all the way through to the final of the event before losing to rising French star Celine Naeff. The young Frenchwoman, who finished last season as junior world number 4, won 6-0 6-4 against Maloney in a one-sided final. Alongside Maloney, three British ladies made the last 16 – 18-year-old Jasmine Conway beat fellow Brit and qualifier Danielle Daley in the first round before losing to eventual champion Naeff, while 16-year-old Isabelle Lacy beat won her first round match against Croatian Lucija Ciric Bagaric in three before losing to Maloney in the last 16. Talia Nelson Gatenby was the other Brit to win a singles match before losing in the second round.

Elsewhere, Emily Appleton was in Florida attempting to get through qualifying at an event in Naples, but she exited in the first qualifying round. 

25 Level

Despite the Men playing for slightly fewer points, there was more male British interest in Loughborough than female, with eighteen of the thirty-two main draw slots filled by British men. The top half of the draw at the ITF25 quickly turned into an all-British affair, with eight British men winning their first round encounters, either against fellow Brits or foreign opponents. Following their excellent weeks at UK Pro League and British Tour level, it was good to see young Henry Searle and Phoenix Weir win their opening round matches, even if both of them lost in the second round to British opponents. 

Five British men made their way to the quarter-finals. Anton Matusevich was the sole representative in the bottom half of the draw after he beat second seed Filip Peliwo of Canada in the second round. Matusevich was narrowly beaten in the quarters by French veteran Jules Marie. In the top half, Harry Wendelken, 21, beat 18-year-old qualifier Patrick Brady, while 21-year-old George Loffhagen, who came through qualifying, beat third seed Aidan McHugh in a surprisingly one-sided affair. Loffhagen went on to beat Brady in the semi-finals before losing 6-4 6-2 to another Frenchman, Clement Chidekh in the final.

Elsewhere, 25-year-old Giles Hussey spurned the British event to take part in the indoor ITF25 event in France. He entered the main draw as the sixth seed and reached the semi-finals, eventually losing to German 35-year-old Matthias Bachinger.

15 Level

Nicholas Philibert and Roy Keegan were both in Tunisia qualifying this week but were unable to make the main draw. Elsewhere, Vivek Kunthe lost in qualifying in Qatar, while Ersel Kalfaoglu lost at the same stage in Turkey.

Junior Tennis

J300 Level

The top level (aside from Slams) of Junior competition saw two of Britain’s brightest young female prospects take part in the event in Traralgon, Australia, ahead of the Junior Australian Open next week. Despite the event bleeding into Week 3, both Brits have already ended their progress in the event. Ella McDonald, junior world number 9, lost in the last 16 after two promising victories, while Ranah Stoiber reached the quarter-finals before withdrawing from her match. The reason is unclear, but it is hoped she’ll be fit for the Junior Australian Open next week.

J200 Level

Allegra Korpanec Davies backed up her decent week at the J100 in India last week with another promising performance in the Asian nation. She was in Delhi this week at the J200, and successfully qualified for the main draw before marching all the way to the quarter-finals, taking out the fifth seed in the opening round in the process, before eventually losing to American 17-year-old Alexia Harmon. Fellow Brit Gabi Paskaukas made the last 16. 

Meanwhile, in Bratislava, Slovakia, Hannah Klugman was the eighth seed at the J200. She eventually lost in the second round to Julia Stuck of Germany.

J100 Level

TITLE ALERT!

There were two British winners at the J100 home event in Glasgow this week, with Charlie Robertson and Mika Stojsavljevic taking home the trophies ahead of a predominantly British field in Scotland. Robertson, 16, battled past a strong field, including fellow British young starlets Viktor Frydrych and Henry Jefferson, to clinch his first title of the year as the third seed. Meanwhile, 14-year-old Mika Stojsavljevic shocked everyone with an unseeded run to the title, defeating the top seed, fourth seed, and sixth seed en route to the final before eventually overcoming the sixth seeded Dane in the final in three sets. That’s quite an astonishing result for a youngster who had only ever reached a final two levels lower than this previously.

Elsewhere in the draw 17-year-old Hannah read fulfilled her eighth seeding to reach the quarter-finals in the Girls’ draw, while Viktor Frydrych was Robertson’s beaten finalist in the Boys’ draw, with Henry Jefferson and Zechariah Hamrouni also reaching the quarter-finals.

J60 Level

TITLE ALERT!

It’s a not a high-level title, but it’s a title nonetheless – 16-year-old Vlada Kozak won five matches on the spin to secure a title in the UAE this week at the J60 event. Unseeded, she took out the first, third, and eventually the fourth seed in the final to clinch the title ahead of the rest of her competitors. Congratulations, Vlada!

In the Boys’ Singles, Maxwell Castle was seeded but lost in the opening round.

LTA British Tour

There was a Tier 2 event in Bath this week. Matthew Doe came through the Men’s Singles unseeded to clinch the title ahead of Jamie Crowfoot in the final, while the Women’s Singles was won by fourth seed Orla Cooper, who beat Isabella Walker to clinch the title.