Jack Draper claims first title of the season at Bergamo Challenger; Hewett & Reid champions at Wheelchair Tennis Masters
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Get all the latest from the British tennis stars on tour from the last week as Jack Draper, Ali Collins, Lily Miyazaki, Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid all got amongst the titles.
Draper crowned champion in Bergamo
Jack Draper is hitting form at just the right time ahead of the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, having lifted his first title of the season at the Bergamo Challenger over the weekend.
The 21-year-old came back from a set down in the final against former top 10-star David Goffin, to seal his fifth career Challenger trophy with a 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 victory in Italy.
An impressive run to the final saw Draper defeat fellow Brit Billy Harris in the quarter-finals, before knocking out American Brandon Nakashima 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 in their first match-up since last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals.
The young Brit has gone from strength-to-strength since returning from injury. After making the fourth round at the US Open, Draper has finished runner-up in the Challenger in Orleans, qualified for the ATP 500 in Tokyo and now added a new title to his collection.
This week he will travel to Sofia where he will face Maximilian Marterer in the first round.
Staying in Bergamo, doubles specialist Henry Patten finished runner-up with Francisco Cabral – losing out to Nakashima and Evan King 6-4, 7-6(1).
Leading on the ATP front last week, world No.6 Joe Salisbury and American partner Rajeev Ram continued their fine form by making the semi-finals of the Rolex Paris Masters before losing to eventual champions Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-3, 6-3.
Collins, Miyazki, Christie, Willis, Stevenson & Hussey amongst doubles champions
The Brits dominated in the doubles on the ITF Tour last week. Starting in France, where British double act Ali Collins and Lily Miyazaki claimed the title at the W60 Nantes.
Collins and Miyazaki defeated fellow Brit Emily Appleton and Isabelle Haverlag in the final 7-6(4), 6-2. The win marked Collins’ third W60 doubles title of the season and Miyazaki’s second of her career.
Seven of the eight players in the doubles semi-finalists were British stars, including Alicia Barnett, Maia Lumsden, Madeline Brooks and Holly Hutchinson.
Back on home soil in Sunderland, there were British champions in both the W25 and M25 events. Joining forces with Estonia’s Elena Malygina, Freya Christie came away with her third title of the season, thanks to a 6-0, 4-6, 10-4 win over Sam Murray Sharan and Marian Bolkvadze.
Meanwhile in the M25 doubles, unseeded British duo Marcus Willis and David Stevenson overcame James Davis and Joshua Goodger in the final 6-4, 7-6(3). The win marks Stevenson’s first title of his career.
Over in Canada, it was a great week for Giles Hussey – finishing runner-up in the singles and winning the doubles title at the M25 Edmonton.
Despite losing out to Justin Boulais 3-6, 7-6(1), 6-0 in the singles final, Hussey tasted silverware in the doubles. Having defeated second seeds Juan Carlos Aguilar and Taha Baadi 6-4, 4-6, 10-7 in the semi-finals, the British, South African team had a walkover in the final.
Hewett & Reid close out season in style at Wheelchair Tennis Masters
Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid once again made history in the season-closing Wheelchair Tennis Masters in Barcelona – coming away with the singles and doubles titles between them.
Hewett won both the singles and doubles titles for the third time in his career, closing out an incredible week with a comeback victory over Gustavo Fernandez in the men’s final 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
The 25-year-old now returns to world No.1 where he is set to finish the season.
Dream team Hewett and Reid added a 10th doubles title to their season with an emphatic 3-6, 6-2, 10-6 win over Fernandez and Martin de la Puente in the final. This year they have now won the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the Wheelchair Tennis Masters.
Elsewhere on the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour, Ruby Bishop was crowned women’s doubles champion at the Metrostav Prague Indoor Cup with Zoe Maras. They beat Ladislava Porizkova and Elizabeth Williams 6-0, 7-5 in the final to secure the Brit’s seventh ITF Futures doubles trophy of the season.
