British Tennis Round-up: Edmund makes maiden ATP World Tour final in Morocco
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Morocco
Kyle Edmund kickstarted his 2018 clay court campaign by reaching his first ATP World Tour final. The Australian Open semi-finalist was on brilliant form at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech where he was seeded second.
After reaching the final eight, he sailed past Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri 6-2, 6-1 before playing his second match of the day due to rain delays.
He then maintained his straight sets record to defeat French fourth seed Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-4 to book a spot in the final against an inspired Pablo Andujar. The Spaniard proved too strong on the day as Edmund fell 6-2, 6-2.
The result marked another milestone for the British No.1 as he moved up three ranking sports to a new career-high of world No.23.
He has since travelled to Monte Carlo where he is set to face Italy’s Andreas Seppi in the opening round.
Mexico
Jonny O’Mara and Luke Bambridge teamed up to reach the final of the CDMX Open - an ATP Challenger tournament in Mexico City.
The third seeds battled past wild cards Facundo Bagnis and Hans Hach Verdugo 6-4, 3-6, [11-9] to set up a final against German duo Yannick Hanfmann and Kevin Krawietz, but were denied the title following a 6-2, 7-6(3) defeat.
Istanbul
Harriet Dart won her first $60K ITF Pro Circuit doubles title with Turkey’s Ayla Aksu in Istanbul. The pair overcame Akgul Amanmuradova and Tereza Smitkova 7-5, 6-3 in the semi-finals and defeated Russian second seeds Olga Doroshina and Anastasia Potapova 6-4, 7-6(3) to lift the trophies.
Portugal
Sarah Beth Grey and Olivia Nicholls were triumphant in the doubles of a $25K ITF Pro Circuit tournament in Obidos.
The pair defeated top seeds An-Sophie Mestach and Nina Stojanovic to become champions.
Meanwhile in Vilamoura, Lucy Shuker, Louise Hunt and Lauren Jones qualified for the 2018 BNP Paribas World Team Cup. The team, led by Captain Ash Smit, defeated Austria, Belgium and Switzerland 3-0 in their first three round-robin European qualification ties, before Hunt and Shuker overcame Russia’s Ludmila Bubnova and Polina Shakirova 7-5, 6-1 in Sunday's crucial final doubles rubber.
The World Team Cup will take place in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, May 28 – June 3.
Egypt
In Sharm El Sheikh, Tara Moore clinched a $15K ITF Pro Circuit doubles title with Greece’s Eleni Kordolaimi.
The top seeds eased past Indian duo Rutuja Bhosale and Kanika Vaidya 6-4. 6-1 in the final.
Tweet of the week
Hats off to Kyle Edmund for his unbelievable hot shot in Morocco…
