Murray & Evans keep Olympic hopes alive, Fearnley rises through the rankings, County Week recap
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There was a thrilling weekend at the Olympics as well as an array of success for Scots far and wide.
Andy Murray and Dan Evans completed a monumental comeback on Sunday night in the first round of the Olympics.
Facing Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniel, Murray and Evans found themselves a set and a break down in the opening round at Roland Garros.
A break back at 3-4 in the second set gave the Brits a glimmer of hope to try and level the match which they capitalised on by taking a tie-break 7-5.
Tied at one set all, a ten-point match-tie break would the decide the winner. Nishikori and Daniel bounded back after losing the second set. Leading the majority of the tie-break, the Japanese team found themselves with five match points at 9-4, any of which could have been the last point of Murray’s tennis career.
However, if there’s one thing the tennis world has learned over the last 20 years, never count Andy Murray out. The Brits managed to close the gap point by point until 8-9 when Evans levelled the breaker with a running forehand drive volley.
Murray and Evans put themselves match point up at 10-9 and took their opportunity on the first time of asking to pull off an incredible comeback and progress into the second round.
The pair will play again on Tuesday and await their second round opponents.
Fearnley makes semis in Chicago
Jacob Fearnley has continued his rise through the rankings as he moved up 17 places to number 208 in the world following a strong run in the Chicago Men’s ATP Challenger.
Seeded first in qualifying, Fearnley bested wild card Cooper Williams before beating Antoine Bellier to secure a place in the main draw.
Jacob opened his main draw account by beating Li Tu 6-4 6-3, who he had lost to the previous week. In the second round, he toppled world number 122 and top seed Terence Atmane 6-2 1-6 7-6 to progress to the quarter-final.
Fearnley kept his momentum in the last eight by securing a convincing victory over Brandon Holt of the USA 6-3 6-2.
However, his run was cut short by fourth seed Gabriel Diallo in the semi-finals as Fearnley lost out 2-6 3-6. Diallo went on to win the title the following day. 
County Week recap
Scots represented their respective counties as teams headed south to compete in County Week 2024.
There was plenty of Scottish success as East of Scotland women and West of Scotland women both topped their groups to be promoted.
The East team, made up of Hanna Augustynska, Mhairi Beattie, Lucy Beeston, Heather Croll, Shaylin Holt, Aadya Iyer Chadalawada, Sarah Mcfadyen, Ama Nisbet and Maisie Wood placed first in Division 5 held at Ilkley.
East went unbeaten for the duration of the week coming through a number of tight matches including 5-4 wins against South Wales and Essex.
West of Scotland women were also successful in topping their Division 4 in Havant. Heather Barlow, Poppy Bonar, Sorcha Caves, Emily Lauder, Anna McKnight, Rachel Pang, Caitlin Steel and Jennifer Steel were all part of the undefeated West side.
The team were dominant throughout the week with their closest match coming against Berkshire who they egded out 5-4.
The West continue their rise through the divisions with a third consecutive promotion and will compete next year in Division 3.
Eastbourne saw Division I men’s and women’s team compete for the title this year with East of Scotland men and North of Scotland men both bidding for the trophy.
East of Scotland’s team was made up of Scott Duncan, Alan Macdonald, James Mackinlay, Sam Macneil, Luke Mcfarlane, Euan Mcintosh and Matthew Rankin who are no strangers to competing in the top flight.
The team’s only loss of the week was to winners Surrey, who went undefeated. East have finished runners up in two out of the past three years in Division I.
Eastbourne was new territory for many in the North of Scotland squad, who competed in the top group for the first time in 13 years after three consecutive years of promotion.
The team consisting of Jed Alexander, Ruairidh Fraser, Cameron Fryer, Vincent Gillespie, Ben Hudson, Calum MacGeoch, Charlie Robertson, Bruce Strachan and Patrick Young took third place as they lost out to East of Scotland and Surrey.
The East and North teams will be back next year to challenge once again for the title.
McHugh reaches East Lansing final
Aidan McHugh reached the final of the M25 East Lansing in Michigan. After a semi-final and quarter-final in previous weeks, McHugh managed to go a step further, putting together an impressive run.
Aidan played a dominant two opening rounds where he eliminated Hunter Heck 6-1 6-3 and Chad Kissell 6-0 6-1.
In the quarter-final McHugh came through a close match with fifth seed Ozan Baris, winning 6-2 2-6 6-4 to progress to the final four.
McHugh took care of Aidan Kim in the semi-final 6-2 6-3 to set up an all-British clash with sixth seed Johannus Monday.
Monday, who was ranked first in NCAA singles last year, bested McHugh in the final 6-2 6-2 to win his first title of 2024.
East Lothian Open 2024
North Berwick hosted the 2024 East Lothian Open with the men’s and women’s Open events being part of the 2024 TS Open Tour Leaderboard.
This year Nicolas Rosenzweig took the title in the men’s after he went on a dominant run, beating Luke Wilson in the final
Meanwhile in the women’s draw, second seed Romily Murray was victorious as she came through some close encounters to take the crown. She beat Eva Dorado in a third-set match tie-break in the final.
