James M. finishes off young Samm 6-1 in the third and Myles gets another point by beating Alex Jhun 6-4 6-2

Well done to Rob - maybe that little Middle Eastern trip did him good.

L16: (1) Dan Cox WR 336 beat Josh Ward-Hibbert WR 749 by 3 & 3
L16: (6) James Marsalek WR 568 beat (WC) Samm Butler UNR by 4-6 6-2 6-1
L16: Liam Broady WR 733 beat (4) Marcus Willis WR 475 by 1 & 1
L16: Myles Orton WR 1232 beat Alex Jhun WR 1607 by 4 & 2
L16: Robert Carter WR 1188 beat (7) Tyler Hochwalt (USA) WR 632 by 2 & 2 
L16: George Coupland WR 959 beat (3) Neil Pauffley WR 435 by 2 & 4 
L16: Richard Bloomfield WR 716 beat (5) Tom Farquharson WR 482 by 3 & 3 
L16: (2/Q) Ed Corrie WR 338 beat (WC) Evan Hoyt WR 1768 by 7-6(0) 6-2

QF: (1) Dan Cox WR 336 v (6) James Marsalek WR 568 - H2H 2-0 - 3 sets in 2009, 1 & 3 in 2010
QF: Liam Broady WR 733 v Myles Orton WR 1232 - H2H 2-0 - both 2 sets in the last few weeks
QF: George Coupland WR 959 v Robert Carter WR 1188
QF: (2/Q) Ed Corrie WR 338 v Richard Bloomfield WR 716 - H2H 1-1 - both 3 sets last year

As I mentioned earlier, Hochwalt going out today means this week will break the record for the biggest GB singles points haul ever from a 10K Futures event (55 out of 56 points), beating by a point the old record set only last week!

QF:  (3) Ed Corrie & George Coupland CR 1542 defeated Robert Carter & Ryan Peniston UNR by 4 & 2

******

SF:   (3) Ed Corrie & George Coupland CR 1542 vs (2) Lewis Burton & Marcus Willis CR 1356

First up I must disappoint Bob in Spain. I didn't watch any of the Broady v Willis match so I can't provide an explanation for the unlikely scoreline. All I can say is that very late in that match I heard Marcus loudly declare that his performance was laughable.

Corrie v Hoyt was a bizarre match. Despite going down an early break, which he quickly recovered, Evan was the better player for most of the first set dominating many points with his aggressive, albeit occasionally wayward, forehand. In comparison Ed looked very ordinary but did play well to save several break points. The tie break however proved to be a disaster for Evan and he hand the set to Ed. Evan then had chances to break earlier in the second but again couldn't take them and then conspired to hand Ed a break in the next game. From there it was one way traffic but this was not a performance that bodes well for Ed. Forget challengers, if he plays like this he will lose to Bloomers in the QF.

Speaking of which it is great to see Richard seemingly free from serious injury. He started slow against Farquharson and went down an early break but quickly settled into the match and played very solid from there on, especially on serve. Tom easily produced the best tennis of the match but he was terribly inconsistent and you just can't afford to give away service games when Richard is serving well himself. As soon as Bloomers got an early break in the second there really was no way back for Tom.

Despite his defeat Alex Jhun did again show what he was capable of, and perhaps why he always acts like the match is on his racket. He hit some absolutely outstanding forehands and in terms of raw talent and potential there is no comparison between him and Orton. He is however a little erratic and a poor game caused him to be broken at 3-3, not 4-4 as stated by Mark Gregory in his Yorkshire Times article. At 4-5* he had four break points, including three in a row, but Myles served well on all of them and eventually took the set. The second set was closer than the 6-2 scoreline suggested with almost every game being close and it could easily have been 6-2 the other way. Like most matches this one hinged on the big points which Myles played well and Alex didn't. Just to return to the point of Alex's antics, he might offend a few people but at a set and 5-1 down he was still fighting like crazy to get himself back in the match and that is something that deserves admiration.

Saving the best for last I come to Marsalek v Butler and what a great match this was. Samm played a first set of exceptionally high quality for a guy who started the week unranked, barely missing a ball in the entire set and hitting some outstanding forehands. James while not at his best didn't do too much wrong but was simply outplayed by Samm's controlled aggression and fine defence. The scoreline would lead you to believe that that after the first James was the dominant player but in reality it was closer. James really stepped things up at the start of the second and immediately broke but Samm levelled at 2-2 before James again broke to lead *3-2. At this point Samm's level dropped a bit and James secured the second set fairly comfortable from here on in. Both players started the third set well with the first three games all going close but with James securing a crucial break in the third. At this point Samm looked pretty knackered, which after a 2 hours of long and brutal rallies wasn't surprising, but a bit like Murray seemed to play the points fine even if he looked dead on his feat in between them. He continued to fight hard until the end but James now was playing with far greater confidence and was making pretty much everything and on balance deserved his three set win. As both players walked to the chair the umpire said "that was a cracking match lads", he wasn't wrong and both of them smiled in a way that indicated they were in complete agreement. Having seen Samm play three times in 9 days it seems clear to me that he has the potential to be a pretty good player. He has a big forehand and his game has no obviously weaknesses. He is also a fiery character who with an intense on court persona. As for James, if he starts against Cox like he finished this match it could be closer than expected.

You are forgiven RJA. Given the quality of your reporting over the last couple of weeks, I can overlook this one lapse

Seriously though, the write-ups are fantastic and much appreciated by a lot of people here - me included.  Keep up the good work.

thirded!