Jay Clarke & Johannus Monday claim ITF singles titles & three British doubles champions
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Get the latest from Britain's tennis stars after strong runs in WTA and ATP events in Asia, four ITF titles and more wheelchair tennis success.
Nicholls & Murray impress in Asia
Another week of WTA 1000 and ATP Masters 1000 tournaments saw two more British quarter-finalists in the top-ranking events on the tours outside of the Grand Slams.
Olivia Nicholls backed up her quarter-final the week before at the China Open by making the final eight teams at the Wuhan Open with Slovakian partner Tereza Mihalikova.
Nicholls and Mihalikova continued their impressive run of form with wins over experienced American pair Sofia Kenin and Bethanie Mattek-Sands, as well as Wang Xiyu and Qianhui Tang in the opening rounds.
However, in the quarter-final, they eventually lost out to Ekaterina Alexandrova and Katerina Siniakova 7-5, 6-4.
Nicholls has now risen to another new career-high ranking at world No.40.
In Shanghai, Jamie Murray and partner John Peers were the standout performers from a British perspective – also making the quarter-finals.
Murray and Peers pulled off the shock result of the opening rounds, beating top seeds and joint world No.1s Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-7(6), 6-4, 10-6 in the second round.
The British, Australian duo went on to face Adam Pavlasek and Jean-Julien Rojer in the quarters – narrowly losing out 7-6(2), 4-6, 10-5.
Clarke, Monday, Grey & Lumsden capture titles
Jay Clarke had a strong week back on the clay in Italy – emerging as the singles champion at the M25 Santa Margherita di Pula.
After losing the opening set in his first match, Clarke was almost faultless the rest of the way. He won nine straight sets before taking the title after Italian Gianluca Mager retired in the final with Clarke leading 6-3.
It’s the Brit’s third M25 singles trophy this season and second at Santa Margherita di Pula. In a post on Instagram Clarke dedicated his victory to his dog, Poppy.
Over in the States, 22-year-old Johannus Monday won the singles and doubles titles at the M25 Louisville.
Monday – who at one point this year was the No.1 ranked player in the NCAA – beat fellow Brit Aidan McHugh in the semi-finals before defeating Tyler Zink in the final 6-2, 6-3.
Teaming up with American John Mercer, he also ran through the doubles draw without dropping a set – claiming a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Jody Maginley and Evan Zhu in the final.
The college tennis star has two ITF singles and two doubles titles to his name in 2024.
Sarah Beth Grey has now won back-to-back ITF doubles trophies after lifting the W35 Joue-les-Tours with Switzerland’s Leonie Kung.
Grey and Kung sealed a 6-4, 6-2 win over Anastasia Firman and Chelsea Fontenel in their final match in France. The Brit adds a fifth doubles trophy to her tally this season.
Finally, Britain’s Ewen Lumsden and France’s Loris Pourroy clinched the M15 Monastir doubles title – coming through three rounds before getting a walkover in the final over Chris Rodesch and William Woodall.
Johns back in the champion’s circle
Joshua Johns continued his fine run of form as he claimed his fourth UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour title since mid-August with a second successive victory in the men’s doubles at the International Wheelchair Clube Ténis Porto in Portugal.
Doubles champion in Porto in 2023 alongside fellow Brit Andrew Penney, Johns claimed his first title partnering Giorgos Lazaridis of Greece this year.
The top seeds beat Jose Machado Sousa of Portugal and Matthew Schamlzriedt of the USA 6-3, 6-1 in their semi-final to earn Johns a place in his seventh successive doubles final and they followed up with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Spain’s Patxi Fadrique and Portugal’s Carlos Leitao, the second seeds.
Second seed for the men’s singles, Johns eased into the semi-finals before making an impressive comeback to beat Spain’s Francisco Garcia Vena 0-6, 6-4, 6-3, But his hopes of a second singles title for the season and a second title in Porto ultimately ended in a narrow 7-5, 6-4 loss to German top seed Anthony Dittmar 7-5, 6-4.
Johns was one of two British singles finalists in Porto after Cornelia Oosthuizen also finished runner-up in the women’s singles. The current British No.2 reached her third final in her last four tournaments after defeating Turkey’s Zeliha Aksak 6-1, 6-1, but she was denied victory in a tight title decider after German second seed Britta Wend prevailed 7-5, 2-6, 6-2.
