Most of round 1 was played today, with three seeds losing: Sam Rice, Youssef Hassan and Sacha Modica. Young starlet Max Stewart was competitive but lost out to the Norwegian sixth seed.
Round 1 completed with the top 3 seeds (Shakeel Manji plus the two named above) all through in straight sets. The other main singles player in the TE under 14 competitions, Finn Bass, recorded his first win at this level.
Max and Finn are both 14 (only just 14 in Finn's case). The easiest way of finding ages of players who have taken part in ITFs previously is to go to http://www.itftennis.com/juniors/home.aspx and use the player search or go to a tournament they are playing in and click through from the drawsheet.
In each case here, "Max Stewart tennis" and "Finn Bass tennis" deliver the ages and indeed dates of birth in early written entries without even having to click on any of the various links.
The other four quarter-finalists are: Daniel Little (who beat top seed, Lewis Roskilly, 7-5 in the third), Enrique Vidal, Hadju-Anderson from Norway and Constant de la Bassetiere from France.
Three Brits make it to the semis, but the French boy is threatening to gatecrash the party, with 3 comfortable wins so far plus a doubles final
QF
Daniel Little d. (6) Noah Hajdu-Andersson (NOR) 7-6(5) 7-5
(WC) Joe Woolley d. (WC) Enrique Vidal 5-7 6-3 6-1
Constant De La Bassetiere (FRA) d. (3) Shakeel Manj 6-4 6-1
(2) Isaac Stoute d. (7) Luke Oakley 6-4 6-2
SF
Daniel Little v (WC) Joe Woolley
Constant De La Bassetiere (FRA) v (2) Isaac Stoute
Doubles Final
(3) De La Bassetiere / Humbert (FRA) v O'Donovan / Simpson
The final is Dan v Constant and both finals start at 10am tomorrow. I'm going to try and watch.
Enjoy and do give us a report. Putting both finals on simultaneously is frustrating for anyone wanting to concentrate on both, but it's often the way they do it. Looks like Isaac may well have had chances to win his semi
SF
Daniel Little d. (WC) Joe Woolley 6-4 4-6 6-4 Constant De La Bassetiere (FRA) d. (2) Isaac Stoute 6-7(1) 7-6(6) 6-1
F
Daniel Little v Constant De La Bassetiere (FRA)
Doubles Final
(3) De La Bassetiere / Humbert (FRA) d. O'Donovan / Simpson 7-5 2-6 [10-2]
Very high standard of match and very little between the players. The match lasted 2h 20 mins.
Dan was broken in the very first game and never really looked like breaking back in the first set, finished 6-4. Dan served first in the second set and it went with serve, but Dan had set points at 5-4. At 6-5, the French lad decided to change rackets, couldn't get a first serve it and was 0-40 down. Saved two break points, but took the set 7-5 on the third break point of the game. Final set started with three breaks, but then went with serve with Constant holding out for 6-4.
Constant has fantastic court coverage and movement and Dan was hitting shot after shot that would have been winners against most, but somehow he kept getting the ball in play.
Constant much the better player in sets one and three, so just about a deserved winner.
