Lexus W100 Shrewsbury: Results & updates
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Get all the latest results and updates from the UK's biggest indoor tennis event of the season - the Lexus W100 Shrewsbury from 14-20 October 2024.
Highlights
- Third seed Sonay Kartal defeats Heather Watson 7-5, 4-1 (ret) to claim title
- Amelia Rajecki and Mimi Xu seal doubles win over Hannah Klugman and Ranah Stoiber
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- Lexus W100 Shrewsbury draws
- Lexus W100 Shrewsbury live scores
- Watch all the action from the Lexus W100 Shrewsbury here
Lexus W100 Shrewsbury live stream
Day six: Kartal claims crown after Watson retires due to injury
Sonay Kartal has clinched her sixth ITF title of the year at the Lexus W100 Shrewsbury after beating compatriot Heather Watson 7-5, 4-1 (ret) in the women's singles final.
"It was a tournament I really targeted," Kartal said in her on court interview. "I missed it last year due to injury so s soon as I was fit to play I was definitely coming back here.
"We've (Kartal and Watson) known each other for a while. When I was the newbie on the block making that transition from juniors she really reached out and made herself available to me for anything I needed. I respect that a lot, so I'm really glad we finally managed to share the court together."
The 22-year-old Brit hit the ground running from the off as she sprinted to a 4-1 lead to put her opponent on the backfoot. Despite trailing, Watson refused to let her head drop as she fought her way back to level terms to give herself the chance to serve for the set. However, the Tunisia Open champion produced one final twist as she strung together a run of three games to take the opener.
As both players looked to produce carry their high-quality tennis into the second, Watson called for the trainer at 1-1 to receive a medical time out. While the world No.157 tried to push through the injury, she eventually called an early end to the match to hand third seeded Kartal the victory.
Kartal wrapped up her fifth title of the year on British soil without dropping a single set and has risen to a career-high ranking of 92 in the WTA live rankings.
Meanwhile in the doubles final, Amelia Rajecki and Mimi Xu defeated fellow rising-Brits Hannah Klugman and Ranah Stoiber 6-4, 6-1 to take home the crown.
Rajecki and Xu broke their opponents five times across the 59 minutes battle before securing victory on their second match point. This trophy marks the biggest title of both players' careers so far, across the singles and doubles games.
Recent results
Sonay Kartal and Heather Watson will face each other in the Lexus W100 Shrewsbury final on Sunday – guaranteeing a British singles champion for only the third time in Shrewsbury.
Third seed Kartal continued her amazing run of form after second seed and two-time former champion in Shrewsbury, Oceane Dodin, was forced to retire due to a thigh injury, with the French star trailing 7-5, 2-1.
Kartal – who won her first WTA title at the Jasmin Open last month – has now won 28 of her last 31 singles matches.
She saw off five break points late in the opener at 5-5 to go on and win the set before Dodin eventually decided she couldn’t continue early in the second.
“I knew today was going to be tough – she’s a great player,” Kartal said. “She hits a massive ball, which on an indoor court makes it super hard for me. The first set was neck and neck, and I think that long game at 6-5 gave me that momentum to finish it off.
“She (Watson) is a super good friend of mine. It’s always tough to play against your friends but tomorrow we need to bring our best game. I’m super excited for the battle tomorrow.”
Watson opened the day with a hard-fought victory against 23-year-old Swiss star Simona Waltert 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in an hour and 52 minutes.
The British No.5 gave the perfect response to losing the second set – breaking straight away in the decider to race out to a 3-0 lead before confidently serving out the victory.
It’s the second time Watson has reached the final in Shrewsbury, having finished runner-up back in 2011.
“It was a tough match today,” she said. “I’ve never played her before, but I watched a few videos last night and she’s a really talented player – hits the ball really hard.
“I’m very happy with how I came through that third set, especially after the second wasn’t my best level. Very happy to be in the final.
“Sonay has been having such an amazing year. It’s great to see her and so many of the Brtish players doing so well.”
The doubles final will see some of Britain’s brightest young talents in action after 17-year-old Mimi Xu and Amelia Rajecki beat top seeds Maia Lumsden and Francisca Jorge 7-5, 4-6, 10-7.
They will play Hannah Klugman and Ranah Stoiber in tomorrow’s final.
Sonay Kartal and Heather Watson are one win away from the Lexus W100 Shrewsbury after the British stars both came through their quarter-finals in straight sets,
Kartal came through a high-quality contest with 17-year-old compatriot Mimi Xu 7-6(6), 6-2.
“Over the past few weeks I’ve had my best results and the last few months is the best tennis I’ve played,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow – it will be my first time not playing a Brit and it’s always tough playing your friends. I’m hoping tomorrow I can bring an even higher level.”
Last month’s Jasmin Open champion is in incredible form having won 27 of her last 30 matches and continues to have great success on home soil, where she has lifted four trophies already this season.
The 22-year-old had to bring her best level against the junior US Open semi-finalist, who came back from a break down to have three set points at 6-3 in the opening set tie-break. Kartal was full of praise for the British starlet after clinching the victory in an hour and 38 minutes.
For Xu – who trained at the Loughborough University Tennis Academy and is now supported by the Pro Scholarship Programme, presented by Lexus – this was her first singles quarter-final at W100 level.
“She’s an incredible player and plays well above her age. In the first set, the level from her was unbelievable and I’m not sure how I won that in the end, maybe a bit of luck as well.”
Watson is safely through to semi-finals after a 7-6(4), 6-4 win over France’s Chloe Paquet in the opening match on day four.
British No.5 Watson is yet to drop a set in Shrewsbury and continued her impressive form up against the fourth seed and world No.105.
“It’s so good to be back here in Shrewsbury, I love playing on home turf,” Watson said. “It was a tough match today – Chloe is a good friend of mine and we practice together a lot. I had to play some good tennis and dig deep.
“I feel like in this stage in my career I’m playing some of my best tennis and enjoying it more than I ever have.”
The Lexus GB Billie Jean King Cup star came back from going an early break down in the opening set to eventually close out the tie-break in just under an hour.
With two break points leading 4-3 in the second, Watson forced a costly error from the French star before serving out the match with a love hold.
Saturday will see Watson face Switzerland’s Simona Walter, who defeated sixth seed Daria Snigur 6-2, 6-2.
Third seed Kartal will be aiming to continue her run to the final against the winner of world No.92 Oceane Dodin and Oksana Selekhmeteva.
Britain's Hannah Klugman and Ranah Stoiber are into the doubles final after defeating Lian Tran and Marina Melnikova 6-0, 6-1.
They are guaranteed to face another Brit in the final - taking on the winner of the second semi-final between top seeds Francisca Jorge and Britain's Maia Lumsden against rising stars Amelia Rajecki and Xu.
Heather Watson, Mimi Xu and Sonay Kartal are the first British players to book their spots in the Lexus W100 Shrewsbury quarter-finals as Sarah Beth Grey, Hephzibah Oluwadare, Emily Appleton and Amarni Banks exited in round two.
Watson came through against compatriot Grey with a 7-6(4), 6-4 win in an hour and 49 minutes.
The former world No.38 showed her quality in the decisive moments of a close second round match up.
Despite being broken back while serving for the opener at 5-4, Watson put the pressure back onto Grey with some confident baseline hitting at the end of the tie-break – winning four of the last five points to take a one set lead.
Watson kept her foot on the gas at the beginning of the second – breaking for the second time of the match on Grey’s first service game before managing to see out the victory.
She will play the winner of the Chloe Paquet and Nastasja Schunk for a place in the semi-finals.
Kartal came out on top in a tight all-British battle against Jodie Burrage to win 7-5, 7-5.
Kartal was broken on her first service game of the match but soon grew into the contest to reel off three games in a row and steal the opening set.
The two Brits tussled for the upper hand in the second as Burrage looked to force a third set but after five consecutive breaks of serve it was the 22-year-old Jasmin Open champion who had the last say as she closed out victory with a break to 15.
Next up, Kartal will take on rising star Xu after the 17-year-old got the better of her junior Billie Jean King Cup teammate Oluwadare 6-0, 6-2 in an impressive second round performance.
The junior US Open semi-finalist wrapped up her second win in two days in just over an hour to reach the quarters.
Appleton however lost her match against Switzerland’s Simona Waltert 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the first match of the day.
The Brit missed on five break point opportunities at the end of the second set with the match within reach but it was the Swiss star capitalised on her only chance at set point before then going on to dominate the decider.
It was also the end of the road for 2023 runner-up Banks who was defeated by sixth seed Daria Snigur 6-4, 7-5.
After losing the opening set, Banks made a quick start to the second as she looked to level up the match. Having taken a 4-1 lead, the Brit looked well on her way to taking us to a deciding set, but a late surge from the Ukranian world No.119 saw her win five out of the remaining six games to eventually seal a straight-sets win.
The wins kept coming for the Brits on day two at the Lexus W100 Shrewsbury as Sonay Kartal and Jodie Burrage led six singles victories, including Amarni Banks, Mimi Xu, Hephzibah Oluwadare and Sarah Beth Grey.
Kartal – Britain’s top-ranked player in the draw – put in an impressive performance to defeat highly talented British junior Hannah Klugman 6-4, 6-4 in the final match of the day.
The 22-year-old recently broke into the top 100 after winning her first WTA title in Tunisia and has already won four ITF trophies on home soil in 2024.
In the second round she will face fellow Brit Burrage, who made a promising start in her return from a long-term injury.
Burrage - who also reached the top 100 for the first time last year – pulled off a gutsy win against Switzerland’s Valentina Ryser 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in an hour and 46 minutes.
The Brits have faced each other twice before back in 2022 with one win apiece.
2023 runner-up Banks knocked out former French Open and US Open quarter-finalist Kristina Mladenovic 6-1, 6-3 in a commanding opening round draw.
Banks broke the nine-time Grand Slam doubles champion twice in both sets as she eased to victory in an hour and nine minutes.
Junior US Open semi-finalist Xu got the better of British qualifier Ranah Stoiber later in the afternoon – banking a 6-2, 6-4 win against her compatriot.
For Xu – who trained at the Loughborough University Tennis Academy and is now supported by the Pro Scholarship Programme, presented by Lexus – this is her first career win at the W100 level.
Meanwhile, 16-year-old Oluwadare came through against eighth seed Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva after the Andorran was forced to retire trailing 7-5, 2-0.
It’s the Brit’s first win at W100 level and her best career win by ranking – defeating the world No.149.
Grey made it four wins from four for the Brits, coming back from a set down to defeat world No.290 Petra Marcinko 5-7, 6-1, 7-5.
The 29-year-old is now on a three-match winning streak having fought her way through qualifying this weekend straight off the back of winning a W35 doubles title in France.
Grey and Heather Watson are set to face off in round two, Banks takes on sixth seed Daria Snigur, while Xu and Oluwadare will play each other in another all-British clash.
The main draw action is fully underway at the Shrewsbury tennis tournament, with Heather Watson and Emily Appleton both recorded straight set victories on the first day of the W100 event at the Shrewsbury Tennis Club.
Watson made a strong opening statement as she secured a comprehensive 6-1, 6-1 win over world No.108 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. The Brit broke Schmiedlova five times across the match to eventually book her spot in the second round in an hour and nine minutes.
World No.393 Appleton also got off to a winning start against Czech star Aneta Laboutkova after she clinched a 6-4, 7-6(5) victory. The 25-year-old Brit found the only breakthrough to seal the opening set, before Laboutkova raised her level in the second to force a tie-break. After consecutive breaks of serve, it was Appleton who held firm to see out the match victory.
However, it wasn't to be for Amelia Rajecki and Ella McDonald who fell short in their opening round matches. Rajecki was defeated by Chloe Paquet 6-4, 6-2, meanwhile 441-ranked McDonald was defeated by Daria Snigur 6-0, 6-1.
