A1 Pharmaceuticals LTC first pair Marcus Willis and Lewis Burton finalised their tour in Israel with another doubles triumph at the ITF Futures F3. This win wrapped up what was an excellent 3 week futures series in the holy land where the British pair won 2 doubles titles and a runner up medal.
The exciting young all GB doubles partnership have now won 8 doubles titles as a pair in the space of 4 months of competing boasting an average return of 2 titles a month.
The all British pair were seeded No2 for this F3 event but had a fairly comfortable route to reach their 3rd final in a row.
In the 1st round they drew an inexperienced all Israeli Pair Belfer and Reznik, who they outclassed taking the first set 6-0. Due to an injury to Belfer smashes & volleys literally come off his shoe laces , their opponents were relieved to retire, meaning the British pair progressed to the quarter finals.
Centenari from the USA and Croatia’s Pecotic were the next obstacle for Marcus and Lewis. The No.2 seeds started strongly taking the first set, nevertheless Centenari and Pecotic tried to mount a comeback in the second, however the Brits stood firm to dispatch their opponents in straight sets 6-1 6-4.
Marcus and Lewis were scheduled to come up against the No.4 seeds in the semi-final but the No.4 seeds pulled out no doubt shaking at the prospect of facing the indomitable British pair.
Next Marcus and Lewis would have to overcome the No1 seeds if they were going to lift their 2nd doubles title of 2014.
Opponent Claudio Grassi boasted a world doubles ranking of No140 and his partner Amir Weintraub was on a high after winning both the singles and doubles title the previous week.
Marcus said we knew The No1 seeds would be no easy task for anyone at this level but we were determined to put the record straight after narrowly losing against Amir in the previous weeks final .
Nonetheless, in what was expected to be a stern test, the British pair were in no mood to settle for another runners up medal in 2 consecutive finals with a convincing start to the final taking the 1st set 6-3. The 2nd set was another tough battle for the A1 pair but they held their nerve and showed their class to edge the second set 7-5 and prevail over the tournament favourites.
Marcus will now climb to a new personal best world No270 for doubles and Lewis slightly higher .They both picked up 46 points each in just 3 weeks in Israel.
Manager Gary lewis said with a combined world doubles ranking around 540 challengers will be just around the corner and a place in the main draw of Grand slam doubles events are no longer a distance spec on the horizon but surely only a matter of time.
Manager Gary Lewis who helped bring the duo together with a sponsorship deal 5 months ago went on to comment “It has been a very successful 3 week tour for Marcus and Lewis".
Israel boasted some big names and very strong drawsheets, however our lads have demonstrated that they have the pedigree to climb into the world top 100 and compete at the highest level.
They will undergo a week of training with head coach Matt Smith at Surbiton LTC next week as they prepare for a series of 3 futures in Thailand in February.
Marcus and Lewis