Lumsden reaches maiden WTA final, junior success at Nationals, Futures round-up

Lumsden and Bains reach maiden WTA final

Maia Lumsden and Naiktha Bains built on their recent doubles success by reaching their first WTA Tour final in Poland.

Seeded fourth going into the Polish Open, a 125 event, Lumsden and Bains faced compatriots Ali Collins and Freya Christie, who they edged out 7-6 (7) 6-4.

In the quarter-final, Lumsden and Bains took on Thai pair Luksika Kumkhum and Peangtarn Plipuech and saved two set points to take the opener 7-5.

Kumkhum and Plipeuch battled back, however, to level the match 6-4. It came down to the wire in the match tie-break, but the British duo closed it out 11-9.

In their first WTA semi-final, they moved convincingly past Anita Raina and Dayana Yastremska 6-3 6-3 to set up a final with Katarzyna Kawa and Elixane Lechemia.

A first WTA title, though, was not to be for Lumsden and Bains as the trophy went to the Polish/French duo 6-3 6-4. Despite the defeat, Lumsden moves to a new career high of 92 in the world.

After a few weeks on the road, Maia had this to say:

Scottish success at Nationals

The Lexus Junior British National Championships began with the 9U National Tour event in Nottingham.

Louis Taylor and Frank Atkins made their way through to the main draw after success in qualifying. Both boys won their first two rounds before Louis bested Frank in match tie-break 4-1 2-4 10-6 to finish top of their group.

In the main draw, Frank and Louis both won their first rounds. Frank edged out Adam Sulyman 1-4 4-0 10-6 and Louis got the better of Sebastian Brock 4-0 4-2. Louis went on to reach the final by beating Maxime Gaugry 4-0 4-3 (4), while Frank bowed out to Vincent Chalupnik 3-4 1-4.

Frank won his play-off match 4-1 3-4 10-7 to claim third place and the final saw Louis come through 4-3 (2) 4-2 against Chalupnik to take home the National Tour title.

Among other Scots competing were Oscar Cook, James Huang and Flynne Mcgowan with more competing this week.

Summer Cup round-up

Charlie Robertson and Henry Jefferson of the GB NTA were at the U18 European Summer Cup in Rome, Italy, as part of Team GB.

Along with Viktor Frydrych, the boys were bested in the first round by top seeds France 1-2, despite Henry and Viktor scoring a late doubles point.

Against Spain, they again fell 1-2. Charlie beat Alejandro Melero Kretzer, recovering from a set down to win 3-6 7-6 7-6. Spain, though, fought back to clinch the remaining singles and doubles points and the tie.

In their final match, GB bounced back against to finish strongly. Charlie put a rubber on the board, beating Kevin Edengren 7-6 6-3, while Henry was locked in a gruelling encounter against Sebastian Eriksson where, after more than three hours, he fell 6-7 7-6 5-7.

Charlie then teamed up with Viktor to bring the tie home 2-6 7-5 10-7.

Meanwhile, in Czech Republic, Hephzibah Oluwadare joined Hannah Klugman and Mingge Xhu in the U16 Summer Cup.

GB reached the final with wins over Germany and Serbia, 2-1 in both encounters, before falling to hosts Czech Republic 0-3.

Strachan and Varty win on TS Open Tour

The TS Open tour made its way to Cults LTC in Aberdeen.

The final of the men’s event saw top seed Nicolas Rosenzweig take on second seed Bruce Strachan.

Both reached the final without dropping a set, and Strachan struck first, taking an early lead 6-3. But Rosenzweig bounced back, winning the second 6-0. Strachan regrouped for the tie-break, winning 10-3 to secure both north-east events on this year’s tour.

In the women’s final, Annique Varty took on Amy Hudson, both players having knocked out the top two seeds. The deciding match also went all the way, with Hudson taking the first set 6-4 before Varty levelled 6-2. Annique kept her comeback rolling as she edged out Amy 10-7 in the match tie-break.

Futures round-up

Scots competed in various countries at ITF Futures events.

Anna Brogan was at the W60 Barcelona event, where she beat seventh seed Magali Kempen 7-5 6-3, followed by a win over Francesca Curmi 7-5 7-5. Brogan was then bested by Eudice Chong 3-6 3-6 in the quarter-final.

Hamish Stewart was on form at the M25 Herzila, Israel. He beat Ofek Shimanov 6-3 6-3 before taking out Daniel Cukierman, ranked 610 spots higher at ATP #377, 6-3 6-1. Hamish’s run ended in the quarter-final against Italian Andrea Guerrieri 7-5 4-6 1-6.

Aidan McHugh reached the quarter-finals of the M25 Southaven, Mississippi. He fell to eventual champion Chris Rodesch of Luxembourg 3-6 3-6.

 Chenming Dong wins at Wimbledon

The Play Your Way to Wimbledon (PYWTW) Finals were held at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, where Chenming Dong and Lucas Nolte made their mark in the 14U boys singles category.

Dong and Nolte both gained convincing wins on their way to the semi-finals, before Chenming overcame Zachary Verret 6-2 7-5 and Lucas beat Robbie Taylor 6-3 6-4.

The final went the way of Chenming, as the Merchiston Castle pupil put together a strong performance, beating Nolte 6-2 6-1.

 Murray and Norrie in Davis Cup squad

Andy Murray and Cam Norrie have been selected in the GB Davis Cup squad, alongside Dan Evans and doubles world number one Neal Skupski.

The team will face Australia, France and Switzerland in Manchester next month, aiming to qualify for the November finals in Malaga.

Both, though, suffered a disappointing week at the ATP National Bank Open in Toronto. Murray clocked up two good wins over Lorenzo Sonego and Max Purcell, but picked up an abdominal strain which ruled him out of a last-16 meeting with eventual champion Jannick Sinner.

Norrie, meanwhile, was dispatched in the first round by would-be runner-up Alex De Minaur.

Both Scots are in the draw for this week’s ATP Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.