Final: (8) Hiroki Moriya (JPN) WR 298 (CH = 143 in January 2015) beat (WC) James Ward WR 614 6-2 7-5

Not to be, but some very welcome points and match time for Wardy this week. Well played James.

WARD'S FAIRY-TALE NOT TO BE AT LOUGHBOROUGH TROPHY;
BRITAINS SALISBURY AND NIELSEN TAKE HOME DOUBLES TITLE


James Wards fairy-tale comeback wasnt to be in Loughborough on Sunday, with the Briton going down to Japans Hiroki Moriya in the inaugural Loughborough Trophy Final. In the doubles final, Londons Joe Salisbury and Denmarks Frederik Nielsen took home the trophy.

Eighth seed Moriya played an exceptional game of tennis to defeat the home crowd favourite in straight sets; 62 75.

It was the third time the pair had met and was Wards first ATP Challenger final since 2015.

Its been a great week, Ive only played a few tournaments to the second round since my surgery, so its good progress and Ill crack on now for the grass court season, said Ward who spent nine months on the sidelines in 2017 after knee surgery.

Of his opponent Ward said: Hiroki played great today. Hes a tough boy, he returned great and served well and didnt give me too many chances, so well done to him.

Thanks to the 90 ATP ranking points earned, Moriya is now eligible to play Wimbledon Qualifying, moving up from No. 298 to No. 221 (live ranking).

Before the start of this tournament I thought, maybe I could not play Wimbledon this year, but Ive made it. It means a lot to me, said the 27-year-old.

For me, I win on my return serve, I hope its good on grass court too.

Moriya seemed unfazed by Wards trademark service game, and despite a 220 kilometre per/hour serve from the Brit, Moriya appeared to get his racket to almost everything Ward offered.

Moriya only faulted as he served for the match at 5-4, allowing Ward a break and a glimmer of hope before the dual Tokyo/Barcelona resident regained his composure to secure the match.

At the last moment, I got so nervous, when I was 5-4 serving, but the other points were pretty much perfect, Moriya explained.

SALISBURY AND NIELSEN END BAMBRIDGE AND O'MARA'S RUN AT LOUGHBOROUGH

In the doubles, Salisbury and Nielsen ended Nottinghams Luke Bambridge and Scotlands Jonny OMaras run in a three set battle: 36, 63 10-4.

The pair got off to a slow start and lost the first set to a firing Bambridge and OMara, who had plenty of home crowd support.

However, Salisbury showed why hes ranked inside the top 80 in doubles and Nielsens experience as the 2012 Wimbledon Doubles Champion came to the fore breaking twice to take the second set and push the match to a championship tie-break.

We really had to raise our level, they were playing great for the first set and a half and we had to come up with some really good stuff to win that second set, explained Salisbury.

We got a bit lucky for the first point of the tie-break, but we just got on a roll and played great for the rest of it so obviously, were thrilled.

Salisbury now moves to No. 81 on the ATP live rankings.

It was OMaras second doubles final in as many weeks, equalling his result as runner-up in the Glasgow Trophy last month.

If we had of won today, Luke would have made top 100 so there was a little bit of added pressure there, but Im sure thats going to come, said OMara.

He added: We knew it was going to be tough were playing Freddy Nielsen whos won Wimbledon we have to think about that.

For Bambridge, who hails from a small town called Plumtree just 20 minutes outside of Loughborough, it was a chance to play in-front of family and friends.

Its not easy to lose, to be honest with you, they served 100% first serves in the third set tie-break so we couldnt do too much more.

I have a lot of family members here, people who havent seen me play for two or three years so thanks to them, I really appreciate it.

JonH wrote:

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According to live rankings, Joe is running at 78 now. Luke has also moved into top 100 live rankings, at 95, and although there are a few below him playing in Paris, I suspect he should be confident to retain that position, particularly if he is playing Surbiton next week.

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According to the ATP, Joe stands at 81 in today's rankings (up five places), Luke at 102 (up nine places) & Jonny at 115 (up eight places) - all career highs.