Brits Kyle Edmund and Sonay Kartal delight home crowd at Lexus GB Pro Series in Loughborough
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The opening event of the 2024 LTA Performance Competition Calendar at Loughborough University concluded over the weekend with nine Brits in finals action across the W35 and M25 ITF World Tennis Tour events.
Top seed Sonay Kartal claimed her ninth career ITF title defeating France’s Manon Leonard 6-4, 6-1 at the ITF W35 Loughborough.
Playing in her first event since getting injured in October, Kartal had an impressive run to the final, dropping only a single set in the semi-finals against fellow Brit and qualifier Ranah Akua Stoiber.
After winning the singles title, Kartal reflected on her win saying, “The last tournament I played in October I won, so coming back from injury and carrying on that success means a lot to me this week.” I am looking to try and maintain this level, keep the body as fit as possible and have a long season this year on tour.”
Former world No.14 and Australian Open semi-finalist Kyle Edmund won his first singles title since 2020 with a 6-4, 6-4 win over 19-year-old Martyn Pawelski from Poland.
“It’s an important win for me,” said Edmund. “It’s my first pro win since my injury. It’s about improving my game at the minute, and I feel like it’s going in that direction.” This event is a 25k, but the level is strong, especially for at the start of the year, so I am very pleased” added Edmund.
In the all-British men’s doubles final, second seeds Charles Broom and George Houghton overcame the third seeds Jay Clarke and Millen Hurrion 7-5, 6-3. This is the pairs second ITF 25k title together.
There was further British success in the women’s doubles, Ella McDonald and her American partner Liv Hovde overcame the second seeds Alicia Barnett and Sarah Beth Grey 4-6, 6-2, 10-7 to win their first title as a pair.
Tournament Director Vsevolod Kevlych said: “The opening of the 2024 LTA Performance Competition Calendar started this week with the ITF World Tennis Tour at Loughborough University. The calibre of tennis was very impressive with some outstanding British performances across both singles and doubles draws. I would like to thank all the venue staff, volunteers and officials for making the event a huge success.”
These international tournaments are part of our Performance Competitions Calendar (PCC) which provides significantly enhanced opportunities for British players at each age and stage of the performance player pathway on home soil.
