This title was won in 2005 by Richard Wire and lining up in an attempt to become the new national champion last week were the best British juniors: Iain Atkinson, Ed Corrie, Daniel Cox, Daniel Evans, Sean Thornley, Josh Milton, David Rice etc. The only notable absentees were Graeme Dyce, Chris Llewellyn and Scott Dickson.
Rd1:
The major shock on day 1 was top seed Iain Atkinson [LTA: 1.2] going out to 16 year old Tim Hewitt [3.1] from Dorset in a big-serving battle. While Atkinson has gained his 1st world ranking points, competed at Wimbledon and beaten some of the top 10 juniors in the world on the way to the prestigious junior Queens title, Hewitt has only played 1 senior tournament losing in rd2 qualifying for GB F7 in May and he's ranked 705 in the world in juniors. Atkinson took the 1st set on a tiebreak, but the 2nd set also went with serve and this time Hewitt proved the stronger in the breaker, winning it 7-3 to level things at 1 set all. A single break early on in the 3rd proved decisive and Hewitt took it 6-4 to seal a big upset.
Another surprising result was Warwickshire 17 year old Maniel Bains' 3 set defeat of British no 10 Marc Baghdadi [ranked 407 in the world in juniors]. Bains triumphed 7-5, 2-6, 7-5 over his older and more experienced opponent to set up a 2nd round match with Tim Hewitt.
Dan Evans, Josh Milton, Ed Corrie, Sean Thornley and David Rice all enjoyed routine straight sets wins in rd1, none of them being troubled by lower rated opponents. Harry Skinner and Daniel Cox also progressed but they were taken to 3 sets. Skinner [who grew up in South Africa] was given a tough draw against the hard hitting Bruce Wagstaff [2.2] from Cambridgeshire and he was outplayed in the 1st set, losing it 6-2. However, Skinner fought his way back into the match, taking the 2nd set 6-4 and then outplaying in tiring opponent in the decider which he won 6-1. Cox won 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 against James Richardson [3.1 and no 8 in GB in U16s], paying the penalty for a lapse in concentration in the 2nd set. He's a fine returner and this was in evidence throughout the match.
The British no 2 U16, Marcus Willis was also knocked out in rd1 by the Spanish-based 17 year old from Middlesex, Oscar Podlewski. Podlewski has been training and competing all year on clay and has enjoyed a reasonable amount of success in futures qualifying, beating several players with world rankings. He's a fine athlete and his clay-court tennis upbringing is evident in his consistency. Willis hit some sparkling winners at times during the match but he was simply outlasted by Podlewski who held his nerve during a tense 2nd set to win 6-2, 7-6.
Lancashire's Daniel Smethurst won the national U16 title this week [he's ranked no 9 in U16s in GB] but he went out in straight sets in rd1 of the U18s to Andy Fitzpatrick.
17 year old Burnham Arlidge is ranked inside the top 1000 doubles in the seniors but he lost in straight sets in rd1 as did Thomas Knights [no 3 in GB in U16s].
Tim Hewitt was the shock winner of this tournament. He beat David Rice in 3 sets in the final, 7-6, 1-6, 6-4.
Daniel Cox thrashed Josh Milton 6-3, 6-0 in the quarters but was surprisingly beaten 7-6[1], 6-1 in the semis by Rice.
Aswell as Tim Hewitt the other surprise semi-finalist was Ben Pritchard who knocked out no 1 U16 in Europe, Daniel Evans in 3 sets in rd2. Pritchard was beaten 6-1, 7-6 in the semis by Hewitt.
Congrats to Tim Hewitt and David Rice on a fine week. Hopefully they will get some wildcards in some of the GB autumn futures in recognition of their results this week.
