Mens SF Marcus Walters [2] v Theo Coats [10] Thomas Drayton [4] v Roy Keegan [7]
To get to the SF Marcus, playing in the #1 seed position in the draw after Felix Mischker [1] withdrew, beat Dylan Davies 1 & 2, Liam Delicate 3 & 2 and Luca Bluett 2-6 6-2 [10-6] Theo beat Ryan Scaman 2 & 5, Ferran Redza 2 & 4 and Charlie Swaine 3 & 3 Tom beat Kai-Luca Ampaw 10-6 in a MTB, Younes Jenkins 2 & 0 and Samuel Constantinou 3 & 2 Roy beat Tsz-Him Chan 1 & 2, Yoann Re 2 & 1 and Christian Doel 4 & 2.
Womens SF Alice Wilson-Marsh (2008) [8] v Allegra Korpanec Davies (2007) Sarah Copley (2007) [6] v Min Mahmut (2007) [7]
On the way to the SF Alice beat Alice Sharp 3 & 1, Jessica Gear 2 & 0 and Zainab Williams 3 & 3 Allegra beat Anjali Kotecha 2 & 1, Amelie Brooks [3] 4 & 4 and Shamiso Ndoro 4 & 3 Sarah beat Sophie-Marie Lowe 6-7(13) 6-0 [10-5], Bath based Turkish girl Nehir Tuna 4 & 1 and 14 year old Edie Griffiths [4] 3 & 1 Min beat Lily Doherty 4 & 1, Millie Day 2 & 1, Molly Robinson 1 & 3
Other matches of note Edie had beaten Marelie Raath 1 & 3 and Celine Ricaud 2 & 2 to get to the QF 2nd seed Ciara Moore was beaten by Heidi Crncan in the 1st round 5-7 6-4 [10-7]. Heidi then gave a walkover to Molly Robinson in the next round.
As a side note that may be of interest to some, the top seed here was Chelsea Samways (JCH 565), a name not seen on this forum for some time. She was easily beaten in the opening round 1 & 1 by Zainab. I'm not sure how Chelsea was top seed as I can't find any record of her playing competitively since leaving the NJCAA circuit in 2020 where she had a scholarship at State College of Florida in the 18/19 season before transferring to another NJCAA Programme at Hillsborough Community College, Florida for her Sophomore year.
-- Edited by Lambda on Saturday 27th of January 2024 04:48:00 AM
Two one-sided finals in Stirling yesterday Ilias Hirani Worthington (Cheshire) [8] defeated his Bowden team mate Mason Dace (Cheshire) [10] 6-1 6-2 It is Ilias's first British Tour title
Flora Johnson (Middlesex) [3] (16 yo) won against Liana Sharratt Blanksby (Yorkshire) [2] (17 yo) 6-1 6-2 It's Flora's second BT title, having previously won Graves (December 2022). It's her 2nd final of the 2024 BT, having reached the final of Graves after Christmas. When Flora and Liana have previously met it has been a much tighter contest. Flora won 14-12 in the MTB in BT Graves SF (December 2023) and Liana came out on top 10-3 in the MTB in the SF on her way to winning BT Taunton (October 2023).
-- Edited by Lambda on Sunday 11th of February 2024 07:24:08 AM
In the women's draw, for the second time this year, the top seed is someone who hasn't played a competitive tennis match - at least on ITF and LTA records - for donkey's years. There is clearly something wrong with the seeding criteria for this to happen twice in just over a month. This time it is Surrey and England netball player Sophie Drakeford-Lewis, who switched to focus on netball in late 2015. I find it curious that she has chosen to play a tennis competition in the middle of the netball season. But all credit to her as she has made the semi-final having defeated Leticia Romanova and Celine Ricaud in the opening 2 rounds.
Womens SF: Sophie Drakeford-Lewis [1] v Min Mahmut [4] (16 yo) SF: Brooke Black [3] (16 yo) v Amelie Brooks [2] (17 yo)
In the mens Fabio continues his unbeaten run
Mens SF: Fabio Nestola [1] v Thomas Drayton [7] SF: Harry Skinner [3] v Alexander Zuckerman [6]
Sophie is a tall woman (about 5 ft 11 or so?) and hits with a lot of power
Letitia is one of my favourite 2008 born players - great centre of balance, a lot of depth and strength too on her forehand
The match went to a MTB and was a cracker for spectators (not that there were many)
However, I was surprised for Sophie (as pro netball player) to be so out of shape
Both her and Celine played a really poor second match
Sophie just made tons of errors - and Celine made even more
Now Celine makes sense - she's only 14 and - by her own team's admission - lacks top fitness
She also has the most worrying technical glitch on her forehand which just cries out for future injures - she takes back as normal and then, at the very last moment, breaks her elbow so her arm is bent at a funny angle for every forehand. But the body is a funny thing - maybe she'll do fine - she certainly has some very good qualities for her age - and made Raath absolutely incansescent with rage
But for Sophie to be out of shape in the second match surprised me
Brooke has extremely fit, and excellent footwork - nice to see. Gets a lovely swing through the ball.
However, for parents who - supposedly - have committed their whole lives into making their children tennis stars - I'd be worried, if I were them
Can't go today but Sophie will beat Mahmut and Amelie was not that impressive so Brooke should definitely beat her
From Wikipedia on Sophie, I don't guarantee accuracy:
'As a youngster, Drakeford-Lewis played tennis, and she was at one time the highest ranked Briton at under-16 and under-18 level.'
Looking on LTA tournament software she has had decent results in past against likes of Daley, Mahoney, Adeshina etc. Obviously just concentrated on netball which has clearly worked out for her.
Sophie is a tall woman (about 5 ft 11 or so?) and hits with a lot of power
Letitia is one of my favourite 2008 born players - great centre of balance, a lot of depth and strength too on her forehand
The match went to a MTB and was a cracker for spectators (not that there were many)
However, I was surprised for Sophie (as pro netball player) to be so out of shape
Both her and Celine played a really poor second match
Sophie just made tons of errors - and Celine made even more
Now Celine makes sense - she's only 14 and - by her own team's admission - lacks top fitness
She also has the most worrying technical glitch on her forehand which just cries out for future injures - she takes back as normal and then, at the very last moment, breaks her elbow so her arm is bent at a funny angle for every forehand. But the body is a funny thing - maybe she'll do fine - she certainly has some very good qualities for her age - and made Raath absolutely incansescent with rage
But for Sophie to be out of shape in the second match surprised me
Brooke has extremely fit, and excellent footwork - nice to see. Gets a lovely swing through the ball.
However, for parents who - supposedly - have committed their whole lives into making their children tennis stars - I'd be worried, if I were them
Can't go today but Sophie will beat Mahmut and Amelie was not that impressive so Brooke should definitely beat her
I dont know much about netball, but it strikes me as being played in small areas/ zones for each player with explosive movements but not necessarily lots of ground being covered. So maybe a different type of physique needed; obviously the players have height but my instinct is it wouldn't necessarily lend itself to the type of fitness and stamina needed for tennis...I might be wrong as no expert
No real suprise in the women's SFs - and lovely for the tournament to get a really tight final
And Fabio did what a top seed is supposed to do in the men's
Womens
SF: Sophie Drakeford-Lewis [1] def. Min Mahmut [4] (16 yo) 6-3 6-1
SF: Brooke Black [3] (16 yo) def. Amelie Brooks [2] (17 yo) 6-4 6-3
FINAL: [3] Brooke Black def. [1] Sophie Drakeford-Lewis 6-1 0-6 10-8
Mens
SF: Fabio Nestola [1] def. Thomas Drayton [7] 6-1 6-4
SF: Alexander Zuckerman [6] def. Harry Skinner [3] 6-3 4-6 10-6
FINAL: [1] Fabio Nestola def. [6] Alex Zuckerman 7-5 6-0