Lloyd Glasspool, Jay Clarke, Marcus Willis, Arthur Fery & Joshua Paris amongst the titles as two British stars reach WTA finals
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What a way to kick-start the new year – six British champions, two WTA finalists and impressive performances across the board. Check out some of the highlights from a busy week in British tennis.
Glasspool captures fourth ATP title
It was the perfect start to 2024 for Britain’s Lloyd Glasspool who won his fourth ATP title at the Brisbane International – almost a year to the day since his last tour-level trophy.
Teaming up with 39-year-old Dutch star Jean-Julien Rojer for only their first tournament together, the duo saved two match points in the final against top seed Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz to win 7-6(3), 5-7, 12-10.
Glasspool – who is currently ranked at world No.33 – now boasts a 4-8 record in ATP finals as the pair move on to try and defend his title in Adelaide.
Dart reaches biggest final; Watson finishes doubles runner-up in Brisbane
It was a similarly impressive week for British No.3 Harriet Dart who reached the biggest final of her career and the Canberra WTA 125 singles.
Dart defeated second seed Nao Hibino and American star Katie Volynets in the quarter and semi-finals before eventually losing out to Spain’s Nuria Parrizas-Diaz 6-4, 6-3 in the final.
The 27-year-old has jumped six spots in the WTA rankings to world No.114 ahead of the Australian Open qualifiers this week.
Meanwhile in Brisbane, Heather Watson reached the final of the WTA 250 doubles event alongside Greet Minnen.
Watson and Minnen lost just one set in four matches en route to the final but were eventually defeated by fifth seeds Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko in the final 7-5, 6-2.
The run sees Watson jump 11 places in the rankings to world No.63.
Four British champions on ATP Challenger Tour
Jay Clarke, Marcus Willis, Arthur Fery and Joshua Paris were all amongst the doubles titles on the ATP Challenger Tour last week.
Starting off in Portugal, where Clarke and Willis teamed up to win the Oeiras Challenger in their first event together since 2018.
Clarke and Willis – who have both been in strong form on the doubles court over recent months – held off a comeback from top seeds Theo Arribage and Michael Geerts to win the final 6-4, 6-7(9), 10-3.
This is both player’s second Challenger doubles title having won their first trophies in 2023.
British duo Fery and Paris however, joined forces in Thailand to win their maiden title of the season – as well as Fery’s first Challenger trophy of his career.
Unseeded doubles team Fery and Paris captured the Nonthaburi Challenger crown without losing a set – finishing the week with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Pruchya Isaro and Maximus Jones.
Fearnley the star of the show in Luxembourg
Jacob Fearnley got his season underway by winning the singles and doubles titles at the M25 Esch/Alzette.
The 22-year-old Brit knocked out top seed Yanki Erel – ranking 300 spots higher than him – 6-0, 6-4 in the semi-finals before moving on to beat Czech star Jonas Forejtek 6-4, 6-4 in the final.
Meanwhile, in the doubles, the Rothesay Open Nottingham champion teamed up American Alex Rybakov to clinch the title with a 6-3, 6-3 final win over Raphael Calzi and Amaury Raynel.
The two titles now take Fearnley up to five pro trophies since June last year as he looks to make the transition from playing in the NCAA.
