22/03/13
British players won all six titles between them on Friday's final day of the ITF 3 Series North West Challenge, the first of seven British-based world ranking events on the 2013 NEC Wheelchair Tennis tour.
Alfie Hewett, Jordanne Whiley and Jamie Burdekin all secured singles titles at South Ribble Tennis Centre near Preston.
Fifteen-year-old Hewett claimed his first senior ITF 3 Series singles title as he upset British No. 3 and top seed Marc McCarroll to clinch a 6-3, 6-4 victory in the men's singles final.
"It's absolutely awesome, I can't quite believe it," said junior world No.1 Hewett. "I knew I'd taken Marc to three sets at the Nottingham Indoor towards the end of 2012, so I hoped it would be close again, but I never thought I would win. All credit to Marc, he came back to level the second set at 4-4, but I'm thrilled that I held on to win."
In the women's singles British No. 2 Whiley claimed her fourth North West Challenge title after beating second seed Christine Schoenn of France 6-1, 6-3.
"I've just come out of a three-month training regime, so it's great to be back to playing matches again and it's always great to win your first tournament of the season. It gives me a lot of confidence now going into next week's North East Tournament and who knows, it could be the same final there."
Burdekin secured a local victory in the quad singles final, the world No. 6 and top seed coming from 3-0 down in the second set to defeat world No. 7 South African and second seed Lucas Sithole 6-2, 7-6(2).
"I'm delighted to win my first tournament since the Paralympics," said Burdekin. "I had some time off after the Games and I feel I've got some work to do to get back to how I was playing at London 2012, so it's great to get the win under my belt at my home tennis centre."
Hewett and McCarroll paired up to justify top seeing in the men's doubles, beating Britain's Dermot Bailey and Leonid Shevchik of Russia 6-2, 6-3 in the final.
Meanwhile, Whiley also followed up her singles victory with the women's doubles title. Second seeds Whiley and Evgeniya Korotkina of Russia beat top seeds Lauren Jones and Schoenn 6-4, 7-5.
To cap a great tournament for players on the Tennis Foundation's Wheelchair Tennis Performance Programme Antony Cotterill and Adam Field justified top seeding to retain the quad doubles title after beating South African second seeds Bongani Dhlamini and Sithole 6-1, 6-3.
All the finalists will now contest Britain's second NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour event of the year, the ITF 2 Series North East Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, which begins on Monday in Sunderland.
View the final results here (PDF opens in new window).
21/03/13
The top two seeded players will contest Friday's men's, women's and quad singles finals at the North West Challenge, where there will be an all-British men's final at South Ribble Tennis Centre, as well as Brits in both the women's singles and quad singles finals.
British No. 3 Marc McCarroll beat Dermot Bailey 6-1, 6-0 to reach the men's singles final for the loss of just one game in his three matches to date. McCarroll will face second seed Alfie Hewett in the final after the 15-year-old world No. 1 ranked junior defeated veteran Russian and fourth seed Leonid Shevchik.
In the women's singles British No. 2 Jordanne Whiley will bid for her fourth North West Challenge title. Whiley, who won the most recent of her three successive North West Challenge titles to date in 2009, beat French third seed Emilie Chene 6-1, 6-2 in her semi-final this year. Whiley plays another Frenchwoman, second seed Christine Schoenn, in Friday's final after Schoenn defeated fourth seed Lauren Jones.
There will be local representation in the quad singles final after world No. 6 Jamie Burdekin (pictured) eased through his semi-final against 2012 runner-up Antony Cotterill 6-0, 6-2. Crosby-based Burdekin, who trains at South Ribble Tennis Centre, will face second seed Lucas Sithole in the final after the South African world No. 7 ended the title defence of Brit Adam Field 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 in a tense semi-final.
After going head-to-head in the men's singles final, McCarroll and Hewett will pair up for the men's doubles final after defeating fellow Brits Ed Holt and Josh Steels 6-1, 6-2 Top seeds McCarrroll and Hewett face Bailey and Shevchik in the final after the second seeds secured a 6-1, 6-0 win over the Anglo-Dutch pairing of Steve Metlcalfe and Pim Palmen.
Jones joined Jordanne Whiley in the women's doubles final after partnering Schoenn to win the remaining semi-final. Jones and Schoenn defeated Brits Debbie Brazier and Val Fisher 6-3, 6-0 to book their place in the final against second seeds Whiley and Evgeniya Korotkina of Russia, who had already booked their place in the final after Wednesday's second day of play.
Defending champions Field and Cotterill eased into the quad doubles final for the second successive year after beating fellow Brits Richard Green and James Shaw 6-1, 6-0. Cotterill and Field will now bid to complete a successful title defence against South African second seeds Bongani Dhlamini and Sithole.
Dhlamini and Sithole won the closest of the matches on the penultimate day of play after defeating Konstantin Donskoy of Russia and Sophie Fraioli of France 3-6, 6-3, 11-9 in a deciding match tie-break.
View the latest draws here (PDF, opens in new window)
View Friday's order of play here (PDF, opens in new window)
20/02/13
The line-ups for the singles semi-finals were completed on the second day of play at the North West Challenge as 19-year-old Dermot Bailey (pictured) joined the top three seeds in the last four of the men's singles.
Local favourite Jamie Burdekin joined 2012 finalists Adam Field and Antony Cotterill in the quad singles semi-finals while Jordanne Whiley and Lauren Jones also reached the women's singles semi-finals.
Bailey reached his first senior main draw singles semi-final at ITF 3 Series level after defeating fellow Brit and fourth seed Paul Stewart 6-2, 6-0. Bailey will face top seed Marc McCarroll in the last four after the British No. 3 secured his second 6-0, 6-0 victory in successive days when beating Glen Gent.
Second seed Alfie Hewett overcame a tough challenge from fast-improving Dutch player Pim Palmen, with Hewett, the world's No. 1 ranked junior player, earning a 6-3, 6-3 victory to book his place in the semi-finals against Russian third seed Leonid Shevchik, who beat Romania's Anton Ciprian 6-3, 6-1.
London 2012 women's doubles silver medallist Whiley will play Frenchwoman Emllie Chene in the women's singles semi-finals after the British No. 2 opened her 2013 season with a 6-1, 6-1 win over fellow Brit Debbie Brazier.
With Chene having already book her place in the last four, both women's semi-finals will be Anglo-French contests after Jones and Christine Schoenn also lived up to their seeded positions. Fourth seed Jones, the current world No. 1 junior girls' player, eased past Ireland's Jean Daly 6-1, 6-1, while second seed Schoenn joined her countrywoman Chene in the semi-finals after beating Brit Val Fisher 6-1, 6-1.
In the quad singles two-time Paralympian Burdekin made his seasonal debut with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Sophie Fraioli of France. Victory for world No. 6 and top seed Burdekin, one of several players contesting this week's tournament who train at South Ribble Tennis Centre, guarantees that there will be a British finalist in the quad singles as he now comes up against 2012 runner-up and third seed Antony Cotterill.
With Cotterill having already secured his semi-final berth on Tuesday's first day of play, he and Burdkein are joined in the last four by fellow Brit and fourth seed Field, who powered past South Africa's Bongani Dhlamini 6-0, 6-0. Field will now play his second South African opponent in successive days after world No. 7 and second seed Lucas Sithole overcame Brit Richard Green.
Meanwhile in the doubles, top seeds Hewett and McCarroll and second seeds Bailey and Shevchik each started their men's doubles challenges with 6-0, 6-0 victories. Ed Holt and Josh Steels will face Hewett and McCarroll in an all-British semi-final, while Steve Metcalfe and Palmen will take on Bailey and Shevchik.
Second seeds Whiley and Evgeniya Korotkina of Russia beat the Anglo-Irish partnership of Helen Bond and Daly 6-1, 6-1 to become the first duo to reach the women's doubles final, with Brazier and Fisher winning through to meet top seeds Jones and Schoenn in the remaining semi-final.
Meanwhile, Green and James Shaw dropped just one game to Gary Craig and Laura Swetman to complete the line up for the quad doubles semi-finals, in which Green and Shaw will play defending champions and top seeds Cotterill and Field.
19/02/13
Marc McCarroll celebrated his 28th birthday in style as the British No. 3 beat Scott Smith 6-0, 6-0 to book his place in the men's singles quarter-finals on the first day of play at the North West Challenge.
McCarroll will face Glen Gent in the last eight after Gent beat Shaun Swetman 6-1, 6-1.
In another all-British quarter-final, fourth seed Paul Stewart will play Dermot Bailey. Stewart, who made his debut in the world's top 100 in 2012, defeated the less experienced Steve Compton 6-0, 6-0 in their first round match.
The closest of the day's first round men's singles matches involved two of the younger British players, Demot Bailey and Josh Steels. A day after his 19th birthday, Bailey prevailed 7-5, 6-4.
In the bottom half of the men's draw second seed Alfie Hewett, the youngest player in the draw at the age of 15, beat Steve Metcalfe 6-0 6-0 to set up a quarter-final against UK-based Dutchman Pim Palmen after Palmen defeated Tony Knappett 6-2, 6-3.
The other quarter-final will be between third seed Leonid Shevchik of Russia and Romania's Anton Ciprian after they beat Brits Ed Holt and Craig Nicholson respectively. Schevhcik overcame a tough challenge from Holt, but eventually won through 6-3, 6-3.
There was an exciting finish to the women's singles match between Britain's Val Fisher and Russia's Evgeniya Korotkina. With just three world ranking places between the two players, a close match could have been expected, and so it proved as Fisher advanced 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 to secure a quarter-final against French second seed Christine Schoenn.
The only all-British match played in the women's singles ended with Debbie Brazier beating Caroline Wareing 6-1, 6-3. Brazier will now face top seed and British No. 2 Jordanne Whiley in the last eight when Whiley begins her bid for a fourth North West Challenge title on Wednesday after a bye.
Meanwhile, in the same half of the draw as Whiley, French third seed Emilie Chene beat Helen Bond 6-0, 6-0 to become the first player to reach the women's singles semi-finals.
The start of the quad singles saw 2012 runner-up Antony Cotterill beat Laura Swetman to book his place in the semi-finals. Cotterill will now player the winner of Wednesday's quarter-final between top seed Jamie Burdekin and Sophie Fraioli of France after Fraioli beat fellow newcomer Gary Graig 6-0, 6-1.
After a first round bye, British fourth seed and defending champion Adam Field will play Bonghani Dhlamini of South Africa for a place in the semi-finals, while Richard Green will also face South African opposition when he takes on second seed Lucas Sithole after the Brit beat Russia's Konstatnin Donskoy 6-1, 6-1 in his opening match.
Wednesday's second day of play at the ITF 3 Series tournament will include the start of the doubles events, with McCarroll and Hewett the top seeds for the men's doubles, defending champions Cotterill and Field the top seeds for the quad doubles and the Anglo-French pairing of Jones and Schoenn the top seeds for the women's doubles.
View the draw here (PDF opens in new window).
View Wednesday's order of play here (PDF opens in new window).
18/02/13
Current British No. 3 and top seed Marc McCarroll will play Scott Smith, winner of the men's singles at the 2012 National Wheelchair Tennis Championships, when the North West Challenge gets underway on Tuesday.
Fourth seed Paul Stewart, runner-up to Smith at last year's National Championships, will face Steve Crompton, winner of the Tennis Foundation Wheelchair Tennis Development Series in 2012. Meanwhile, second seed and world No. 1 ranked junior Alfie Hewett will face former National Championships runner-up Steve Metcalfe in what could be the start of a journey to a possible semi-final against Russian third seed Leonid Shevchik.
London 2012 doubles bronze medallist Jordanne Whiley leads the top four seeds in the women's singles. After a first round bye, Whiley will face one of two fellow Brits, Caroline Wareing or Debbie Brazier, as she begins her bid for a fourth North West Challenge title.
British No. 2 Whiley, who's most recent of her three successive titles at South Ribble Tennis Centre came in 2009, is drawn in the same half of the draw as French third seed Emilie Chene, who opens her campaign against Brit Helen Bond, winner of the women's section in the 2012 Tennis Foundation Wheelchair Tennis Development Series.
World No. 1 ranked junior Lauren Jones, the fourth seed, will play Ireland's Jean Daly in her opening match ahead of a possible semi-final against French second seed Christine Schoenn.
Three of the four seeds in the quad singles are British, with world No. 6 Jamie Burdekin drawn in the same half of the draw as 2012 runner-up and third seed Antony Cotterill, while defending champion and fourth seed Adam Field has South African world No. 7 and sixth seed Lucas Sithole in his half of the draw.
View the draw here (PDF opens in new window).
View Tuesday's order of play here (PDF opens in new window).
13/02/13
Forty six players from eight countries, including a number of London 2012 Paralympians, are set to contest the North West Challenge, Britain's first world ranking tournament of the year on the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour, which takes place at South Ribble Tennis Centre near Preston on 19-22 February.
Now in its seventh year on the NEC Tour, the North West Challenge has been upgraded from ITF Futures Series to ITF 3 Series status.
Among this year's men's entries, which include players from Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania and Russia, are London 2012 Paralympian and current British No. 3 Marc McCarroll, as well as Britain's world No. 1 ranked junior Alfie Hewett.
McCarroll was runner-up in the men's singles and won the men's doubles at the North West Challenge in 2010, while 15-year-old Hewett won his first senior main draw title in the men's doubles at the North West Challenge in 2012.
Great Britain's London 2012 women's doubles bronze medallist Jordanne Whiley, a former North West Challenge champion, heads the entries for the women's singles ahead of French players Christine Schoenn, who also represented her country at London 2012, and Emilie Chene.
"The North West Challenge was one of the first NEC Tour events I won and I've won it as a junior and as a senior. It's a great tournament, so I'm delighted it's been upgraded to ITF 3 Series status and I look forward to going back and trying to win it again this year," said Whiley.
Lauren Jones, who joined Hewett in going to the top of the junior world rankings last month, joins Whiley in the women's singles, along with local players Caroline Wareing and Helen Bond.
Britain's world No. 6 Jamie Burdekin will join 2012 finalists Adam Field and Antony Cotterill in a strong domestic entry in the quad singles, with world No. 7 Lucas Sithole of South Africa leading the overseas entry.
Wareing and Bond are among several local players entered for the tournament, including the man behind the creation of the tournament seven years ago and Tournament Director, former Great Britain World Team Cup player Tony Knappett.
"We're thrilled the North West Challenge has been upgraded to an ITF 3 Series event," said Knappett, who will also be competing at the event.
"The tournament continues to grow in stature and popularity with players from all over the world, so we're looking forward to another great week of wheelchair tennis this year. I would like to thank the team at the Tennis Foundation for all they’ve done to support the event."
Entry is free for spectators and draws and results will be updated on this page.