In a departure from tradition all the Nationals are taking place this year in the same week. The under 12s are at the West Hants Club, and the other 3 all in Nottingham. The most interesting of the girls' events is the under 14 where all our top players are in the draw. Indeed the draws for the under 16s/18s are so weak that if the top 5 under 14 seeds (Jazzi Plews, Maia Lumsden, Gabi Taylor, Georgina Axon and Anastasia Mikheeva) were in the older groupings I would expect one of them to win. The under 18s seeds are headed by Alicia Barnett, Brigit Folland and Kyria Dunford, whilst Freya Christie, Alannah Griffin and Lana Rush top the under 16s list. Some of those missing will be in the Maureen Connolly Trophy team. All draws are on the LTA website
No major upsets in the under 18s or 16s but in the 14s Maia Lumsden was stunned 7-5 6-3 by Jodie Burrage whilst Anastasia Mikheeva was soundly beaten 2 & 0 by Katie Swan, a colleague in the under 12 team last year. Katie goes on to play the other team member Georgina Axon in the quarters.
Although hardly a major upset, Beth Askew beat third seed Kyria Dunford in the under 18s whilst the top seeds in the under 16s strolled into the quarters. Katie won the battle of the 1999s whilst Jazzi and Gabi were tested before setting up an eagerly awaited semi
U14 semis
(1) Jazzi Plews v (3) Gabi Taylor (10) Katie Swan v (16) Jodie Burrage
In the under 16s Freya and Alannah have been unbeatable at doubles recently, with 5 ITF titles in the last 3 months, and they duly won the under 16s, but Lana spoilt their party in the singles
U18 semi
(1) Alicia Barnett d. (4) Dominique Covington 6-3 4-6 7-5 (15) Beth Askew d. (2) Brigit Folland 6-2 6-4
Final
(1) Alicia Barnett v (15) Beth Askew
U16 semi
(1) Freya Christie d. (5) Sabrina Federici 6-3 6-1 (3) Lana Rush d. (2) Alannah Griffin 1-6 6-1 6-0
