British tennis stars celebrate over 210 pro titles across the 2023 season
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What a season it’s been for British tennis. This year we’ve seen 214 unique pro titles won by our British stars competing on the ATP, WTA, ITF and UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tours.
We’ve celebrated Grand Slam title-winners, Tour Final champions, record-breakers and ranking risers throughout the season both on home soil and at international events across the globe.
With 2023 coming to a close, it’s time to take a look back at some highlights from action-packed year in British tennis.
Brits claim eight Grand Slams
British players won an impressive eight pro-level Grand Slam titles in 2023 – with two trophies at each of the four major tournaments this year.
Neal Skupski reached a new career milestone back in July as he lifted his first men’s doubles Grand Slam title at Wimbledon alongside Netherland’s Wesley Koolhof. Skupski became the first Briton to win the title since Jonathan Marray back in 2012.
Speaking of milestones, former world No.1 Joe Salisbury and American partner Rajeev Ram made it three successive US Open titles at Flushing Meadows this year – stretching their unbeaten run to 18 matches. They became the first duo to do so since Tom Bundy and Maurice McLoughlin in 1912.
It was another historic year for British wheelchair tennis stars Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid. Hewett won the Australian Open and US Open singles titles on his way to becoming world No.1 and finishing the year as ITF World Champion. The 26-year-old also made the finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
Meanwhile, Hewett and Reid also combined for another three major doubles titles – clinching the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon men’s doubles trophies – taking their overall tally as a partnership to 18.
Andy Lapthorne added a 16th career Grand Slam trophy to his name at the French Open this year alongside Donald Ramphadi. The British, South African duo defeated top seeds Niels Vink and Sam Schroder en route to Lapthorne’s second career title in Paris.
Boulter, Norrie & Evans headline ATP & WTA success
There were even more firsts and records for the Brits on the ATP and WTA Tours this year.
2023 saw British No.1 Katie Boulter win her maiden WTA title on home soil at the Rothesay Open Nottingham. Boulter beat fellow Brits Harriet Dart, Heather Watson and Jodie Burrage (in the first all British WTA tour final for 46 years) to realise her dream of winning her local tour-level event.
Cam Norrie achieved something that not many players managed in 2023 – beating Carlos Alcaraz in an ATP final. Norrie lifted his fifth career title in Rio after coming from a set down to defeat the Wimbledon champion 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.
33-year-old Dan Evans won the biggest title and second ATP trophy of his career in Washington at the Citi Open back in August. His final win over Tallon Griekspoor took him to a new career-high ranking at world No.21.
There was more to celebrate for Salisbury and Ram, who managed to retain their Nitto ATP Finals crown in the season-ending event in Turin. Salisbury became the first British player to win the event twice as he and Ram proved the cream of the crop up against the top eight doubles pairs across the season.
The doubles success kept coming for the Brits in 2023. Starting on the WTA Tour, Maia Lumsden, Burrage and Watson all won tour-level titles this year.
Lumsden and Burrage claimed the biggest trophies of their careers at the Open Capfinances Rouen Métropole and Prague Open respectively. Meanwhile, Watson lifted the Prague Open title with Yanina Wickmayer before going on to finish the year as British No.1.
On the men’s side – Jamie Murray won four ATP titles in a season for the first time in his career alongside Michael Venus (Dallas, Banja Luka, Geneva and Zhuhai). Lloyd Glasspool also featured among the title winners having won the Adelaide International with Harri Heliovaara in January, while Skupski and Koolhof sealed victory on the grass at s-Hertogenbosch back in June.
Challenger titles keep coming for Brits
Andy Murray pulled together an impressive run on the ATP Challenger Tour earlier this year, winning three titles on the spin starting at Aix En Provence and finishing with back-to-back singles victories at the Lexus Surbiton Trophy and Rothesay Open Nottingham.
He’s joined by Jack Draper, Liam Broady, Ryan Peniston and Jan Choinski as British singles champions on the Challenger Tour. Draper won his fifth career Challenger title in Bergamo back in October before going on reach his first ATP final in Sofia.
Broady took home the Vilnius Challenger title without dropping a set in February and later in the year broke into the top 100 for the first time. Meanwhile, Peniston and Choinski both sealed top 200 rankings thanks to standout performances at the Winnipeg National Bank Challenger and M.A.R.A Open.
Burrage’s doubles success continued at the WTA 125 level in 2023 as she combined with Australia’s Olivia Gadecki to bag what was then, the biggest title of her career in Stanford.
Julian Cash and Luke Johnson proved almost unstoppable in ATP Challenger doubles events this season with both finishing 2023 with five titles each.
Henry Patten, Jonny O'Mara and Broady were also amongst the Challenger doubles trophies as well as Jacob Fearnley, Johannus Monday, Jay Clarke, Toby Samuel, Marcus Willis and Scott Duncan, who claimed their first titles at that level this year.
British stars impress on ITF World Tennis Tour
The ITF World Tennis Tour became a strong hunting ground for the British players this year, with the likes of Boulter and Burrage winning singles titles.
Boulter opened the year with another final win over Burrage at the W60 Canberra to seal her third career $60k championship.
British No.2 Burrage claimed a career-best singles victory at the W60 Croissy-Beaubourg, where she came from a set down to beat top seed Lucia Bronzetti in the final.
At $25k level in singles, British No.3 Dart won the W25 Nottingham, while 21-year-old Sonay Kartal won two titles in Santa Margherita di Pula and Leira.
Staying with the $25k wins, on the men’s side, Arthur Fery, George Loffhagen, Dan Little, Jay Clarke, Toby Samuel, Aidan McHugh, Jack Pinnington Jones, Anton Matusevich, Harry Wendelken, Felix Gill, Jacob Fearnley, Charles Broom and Emile Hudd all brought home a singles title during the 2023 season.
There’s been lots for Great Britain to celebrate in the ITF doubles as well, particularly for our top women’s doubles stars. Alicia Barnett and Olivia Nicholls sealed the W100 Vitoria-Gasteiz crown earlier this year, while Amelia Rajiecki teamed up with Abigail Rancheli to win the biggest title of her career at the W80 Tyler.
The following British stars also won doubles titles at the $60k level as well: Lumsden, Naiktha Bains, Freya Christie, Ali Collins, Emily Appleton, Lily Miyazaki, Sarah Beth Grey and Eden Silva.
70 wheelchair titles in 2023
Seventeen players, the majority of whom are supported by the different levels on the LTA Wheelchair Performance Pathway – contributed to the total of 70 unique titles won this season by Brits in senior competition on the ITF’s UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour.
They ranged from Oliver Cox’s first international senior quad singles title at the Abingdon Futures and up to the six Grand Slam titles won between Hewett, Reid and Lapthorne.
Hewett’s seven singles titles contributed to a total 26 singles titles won by British players, while Abbie Breakwell claimed five singles titles and highlights outside of Grand Slam competition included Greg Slade’s first ITF 2 quad singles title.
Reid’s 10 doubles titles partnering Hewett were part of 12 titles for the British No.2, who claimed his first men’s singles title since 2021 at the Bolton Indoor ITF 2. Meanwhile, British women’s No.1 Lucy Shuker won multiple doubles titles for the 18th time in 19 seasons and ended the year with at least four ITF 1 doubles titles for the third time since 2012.
Ruby Bishop won more doubles titles that any other British woman, finishing 2023 with eight doubles winners’ trophies, including three won alongside Breakwell.
In addition to these title’s the future looks bright with plenty of success this year for British juniors – read more about the British junior titles in 2023.
