Reid wins fifth consecutive Roland Garros, Collins reaches final in Italy, Scots kick off grass court season
• 3 MINUTE READ
A strong finish on the clay for Scots and plenty to look forward as players take to the grass
Reid wins fifth straight Roland Garros title
Gordon Reid secured a 24th career Grand Slam doubles title as the Scot and Alfie Hewett won their fifth consecutive French Open title.
The pair took their stunning clay-court form to Paris and opened their campaign with a 6-2 6-0 win over Dutch pair Tom Egberink and Maikel Scheffers.
In the semi-final, Reid and Hewett played Gustavo Fernandez and Stephane Houdet in a clash that went down to the wire, with the Brits prevailing from a set down 3-6 6-2 10-8.
The pair were up against second-seeded Japanese duo Takuya Miki and Tokito Oda in the final and got off to a strong start by taking the opening set 6-1, before sealing the Roland Garros title in the second 6-4.
It’s been a year of Grand Slam dominance so far for the pair, who also lifted the Australian Open in January.
Collins reaches final in Italy
Ali Collins was in action in Italy at the W75 Caserta, teaming up with Maria Paulina Perez Garcia of Colombia to put together a run to the final.
The pair were playing their third event together, having reached a semi-final in Grado, Italy, two weeks earlier.
After receiving a first-round bye, Collins and Perez Garcia took on Elena Pridankina and Ekaterina Maklakova, edging them out 7-5 2-6 10-5.
In the semi-final, they played fourth seeds Shuo Feng and Alexandra Osborne, where they had to recover from a set down to force a third set, winning 1-6 6-2 10-6 to move into the final.
Collins and Perez Garcia were up against top seeds Yuliana Lizarazo of Colombia and Despina Papamichail of Greece in the decider and struck first, taking the opening set 6-4, before Lizarazo and Papamichail fought back to win the second set 6-3 and the match tie-break 10-3.
The final was Ali’s second final in the past month and her fourth of 2024.
Scots kick off grass-court season
Players transition from the clay courts this week with several Scots competing in their first grass events of the season.
Andy Murray is in Stuttgart where he plays American Marcos Giron in the first round of the Boss Open. Jack Draper awaits the winner in the round of 16.
Jacob Fearnley started strongly at the Rothesay Open, an ATP Challenger 125 event in Nottingham, downing Lexus Glasgow Challenger champion Clement Chidekh 2-6 6-3 7-6(4) in the first round of qualifying.
He went on to qualify today after beating third-seeded Mark Lajal 6-2 6-4 to book his place in the main draw.
He is also set to team up with Cam Norrie in the doubles draw where the pair take on fourth seeds Rithvik Bollipalli and Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha.
Aidan McHugh is also in the qualifying draw and got the better of Australia’s James McCabe 6-7 6-2 6-2. He continues his qualifying campaign this afternoon and will partner Jack Pinnington-Jones in the doubles this week. Meanwhile, Norrie awaits his first-round opponent as he plays a qualifier in his opener.
In the women’s draw, Maia Lumsden teams up with Naiktha Bains as they eye another strong season on the grass. They play Nao Hibino and Samantha Murray Sharan in the first round.
More information on the 2024 Rothesay Open can be found here
