Murray and Venus make Cincinnati final, more junior success at Nationals, Lumsden and Barlow win Ayrshire Open

Jamie Murray and Michael Venus finished runners-up at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati, after reaching their first ATP Masters 1000 final as a pair.

The first round saw Murray and Venus take on 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Novak Djokovic and his partner, fellow Serbian player Nikola Cacic. In front of a packed house, Murray and Venus came through 6-4 6-2.

In the second round, they were pushed all the way by world number one pair Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski. but managed to secure the upset 7-6 6-7 10-1.

The quarter-final was against Lorenzo Musetti and Lorenzo Sonego, who had taken out two seeded pairs already. Both sets went to the wire, but Murray and Venus were able to edge out the Italians 7-6 (5) 7-6 (7) to secure their spot in the semi-final.

Carrying on their form, the pair took down Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France in straight sets 6-3 6-4 to make Sunday’s final.

Murray and Venus took advantage of an early break to claim the first set 6-3 against Argentinian duo Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni, but Gonzalez and Molteni were quick to bounce back, winning the second 6-1.

The title would be decided by a match tie-break. The breaker was neck-and-neck with the pairs remaining within a point of each other throughout. Murray and Venus had a match point at 9-8 but were unable to convert and Gonzalez and Molteni pounced to seal it 11-9.

Murray and Venus now head to New York for the US Open, the last Grand Slam of the year.

More success at Nationals for juniors

Scottish junior success continued at the Lexus National Tour grade one event in Nottingham as Cameron Rae won the 10U boys’ singles event.

Cameron, the second seed, won both his group matches in straight sets against Piotr Janda and Lionel Zhang.

With his place secured in the compass draw play-off event, Cameron started his bid for the title against compatriot Fraser Newcombe, who he overcame 6-1 6-2.

Moving into the quarter-final, Cameron beat Matyas Oprchal 6-4 6-0 before downing Henry Harrison in the semi-final 6-2 6-2.

Neither Cameron nor his final opponent Mason Wimalasena had dropped a set in the play-offs, but it was the young Scot who became a national champion, winning 6-1 6-4.

Jamie Connel goes deep at ITA National Summer Championships

Jamie Connel has been back in action stateside ahead of his Fall semester at Florida State University.

He competed in the ITA National Summer Championships on home turf - the event is seen as the pinnacle of the ITA summer circuit, a tour that allows players to compete over the college break.

Seeded three, Connel opened strongly, beating max Pettingel 6-2 6-2 before receiving a walkover in his second round. Moving onto the quarter-final, Connel was leading Pavan Uppu 6-4 1-0 before Uppu retired.

In the semi-final, he bested Jelani Sarr of the University of South Carolina 6-1 7-5 before taking on fourth seed from the University of Illinois, Kenta Miyoshi.

Connel secured the opening set 6-2 before Miyoshi fought back to win the second 6-4. There was little in it in the third-set tie-break, but it was Miyoshi who found a way to pull through 10-7 and win the Championships.

Despite the singles final loss, Connel still went home with a title under his belt as he and Thomas Kennedy of Furman University were victorious in the men’s doubles.

Lumsden and Barlow pick up TS Open Tour titles

The latest instalment of the TS Open Tour was held at the Ayrshire Open in Prestwick.

In the men’s singles, Ewen Lumsden put in a dominant weekend as he made a convincing run to the final.

Top seeded, and top of the TS Open Tour leaderboard, his opponent Nick Rosenzweig was in his second final in as many weeks after his run at the North East Open.

While their meeting at the West went the distance, Lumsden took the Ayrshire title in style, winning 6-1 6-1 to claim the £700 top prize.

Heather Barlow played her way back into the winner’s circle in the women’s event, which saw the top four seeds reach the semi-finals.

Top-seeded Barlow took on fourth-seeded Eleanor Cochran, while second seed Kirsty Robertson played the West of Scotland champion and third seed Anna McKnight.

Barlow got past Cochran 6-4 6-4, as Robertson secured her place in the final over McKnight 7-5 6-2.

In the final, it was Robertson who took an early lead, winning the first set 6-4, but Barlow levelled 6-4 and kept her momentum going into the tie-break, taking the decider 10-3 to bank £700.

The TS Open Tour returns next month with the Highland Championships in Pitlochry from 11-16 September.