14/10/13
Alex Jewitt and Louise Hunt won their second NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour singles titles of 2013 on Sunday after claiming the men's and women's finals at the Wrexham Wheelchair Tennis Tournament.
Jewitt and Hunt were both victorious at the ITF Futures Series Sheffield Wheelchair Tennis Tournament in March and, after winning at his home tennis centre earlier this year, two-time Paralympian Jewitt won the last five games in both sets of the men's singles final to defeat Ed Holt 6-1, 6-1.
Lauren Jones, who started 2013 as the world No. 1 ranked junior player and has made her debut inside the world's top 30 this year in the senior women's singles rankings, took her first set of tennis ever off British No. 3 Hunt as the two players met in an ITF Futures Series singles final in Wales for the third successive year.
However, London 2012 Paralympian Hunt proved the more consistent player in the second and third sets as Jones won just the fourth game of the second set as Hunt wrapped up a 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory. Hunt ends the tournament with both the women's singles and doubles titles, having wrapped up the women's doubles title partnering Jones on Saturday's second day of play at Wrexham Tennis Centre.
Holt and Paul Stewart won the men's doubles title after Jewitt and Tony Knappett had to withdraw before the final when Knappett fell ill.
View the final results here.
13/10/13
Alex Jewitt and Ed Holt reached the men's singles final on the second day of play at Wrexham Tennis Centre, while Louise Hunt and Lauren Jones moved into the women's singles final.
Jewitt and Hunt will now bid for their second NEC Tour singles titles of the year, having been victorious in the men's and women's singles respectively at the Sheffield Wheelchair Tennis Tournament in March.
After dropping two games across his opening two matches on the first day of play, top seed Jewitt only dropped two games in his semi-final as he eased past Greg Shea 6-1, 6-1 to reach his second NEC Tour final of 2013.
Holt reached his first ever main draw singles final on the NEC Tour after coming from a set down for the second match in succession. Holt fought back to beat second seed Paul Stewart 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 and Jewitt is now the last remaining seed in an event that lost two seeds on the opening day.
This week's ITF Futures Series event has previously been held in Cardiff, where Hunt and Jones have contested the last two women's singles finals.
Having won the last three singles titles in Cardiff, Hunt will bid for a fourth successive title in Wales after beating fellow Brit Debbie Brazier 6-1, 6-1 in her semi-final. Meanwhile, Jones will also bid for her second NEC Tour singles title this season after beating Turkey's Busra Un 6-4, 6-3. It was Jones's second career win over Un, who she beat in the semi-finals of the Antalya Open in Turkey in May before going on to win her first senior women's singles title.
Hunt and Jones have already won the women's doubles together for the third successive year. The top seeds led Luz Esperanza Merry and Un 6-1, 1-0 when Merry and Un had to retire from the decisive round-robin match. Hunt adds the title to the five successive doubles titles she won in Cardiff between 2008 and 2012.
As well as going head-to-head in the men's singles final, Jewitt and Holt will also meet in the men's doubles final. Top seeds Jewitt and Tony Knappett beat Mehoob Hussein and John Lambert 6-0, 6-3 in the semi-finals, while Holt and Stewart also secured a comfortable 6-0, 6-2 win over Ireland's Gareth Greene and Dutchman Pim Palmen.
12/10/13
The third and fourth seeds both exited the men's singles on the opening day of play in Wrexham as the semi-finalists were decided in both singles events and top seeds Louise Hunt and Lauren Jones made a winning start to the women's doubles.
With two rounds of matches played in the men's singles, Ed Holt followed up a 6-0, 6-1 first round win over James Ascroft by saving four match points en route to winning his quarter-final. Holt eventually beat British-based Dutch third seed Pim Palmen 5-7, 7-6(3), 7-6(5) to set up an enthralling semi-final against second seed Paul Stewart.
Stewart also dropped just one game in his opening match against Mehoob Hussein, but then also had to fight back from a set down before finally wrapping up an encouraging 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over former GB international Tony Knappett.
On a day when three of the four men's semi-finalists came from a set down in their quarter-finals, Greg Shea reached his first semi-final at an NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour event after beating fourth seed Steve Crompton in his opening match.
Scott Smith, winner of the men's singles at the 2012 National Championships came from behind to win his opening contest against Ireland's Gareth Greene 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. But after Shea had beaten Crompton 6-2, 6-4 it was his turn to make a fine recovery and he went on to seal a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over the more experienced Smith to book his place in the last four.
Shea will now face top seed Alex Jewitt in Saturday's semi-finals. Two-time Paralympian and former National champion Jewitt began his bid for a second NEC Tour title of 2013 with two 6-0, 6-1 wins. Jewitt, winner of the ITF Futures Series Sheffield Wheelchair Tennis Tournament in March, beat Craig Nicholson and John Lambert with ease.
With British No. 3 and top seed Louise Hunt having a first round bye, the closest match of the day in the women's singles ended in a 7-5, 6-3 win for Turkey's Busra Un, who held off a fine effort from British 12-year-old Luz Esperanza Merry.
Un will play second seed Lauren Jones for a place in the final after Jones opened her campaign by defeating Val Fisher 6-3, 6-0. Meanwhile, Hunt will open her bid for a fourth ITF Futures singles title in successive years in Wales by taking on Debbie Brazier after the South Wales player beat Helen Bond 6-0, 6-4.
Hunt and Jones got their women's doubles challenge off to a comfortable start, beating Brazier and Fisher 6-0, 6-1.
09/10/13
London 2012 Paralympians Alex Jewitt and Louise Hunt head a predominately British entry for the ITF Futures Series Wrexham Wheelchair Tennis Tournament as Wales hosts an NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour event for the tenth successive year and Wrexham Tennis Centre hosts the penultimate British world ranking event of 2013 from 11-14 October.
Jewitt will line-up alongside Rio 2016 hopeful Paul Stewart, who plays his first NEC Tour event since completing his IronSpine Challenge, a 140-mile multi-discipline fundraising event, in August in aid of spinal research.
British-based Dutchman Pim Palmen is also amongst the entries for the men's singles ranked inside the world's top 100, while former Great Britain World Team Cup player Tony Knappett and Ireland's Gareth Greene will also be others to look out for at this week's tournament, which is supported by the Tennis Foundation, Tennis Wales, and Clarke and Hartland Solicitors.
Steve Crompton and Helen Bond, winners of the men's and women's events in the 2012 Tennis Foundation Wheelchair Tennis Development Series are also set to be in action, while British No. 3 Hunt is set to be top seed for the women's singles as she bids to add to her previous successes in the ITF Futures tournament held in Cardiff in recent years.
Lauren Jones, who has finished runner-up to Hunt in the women's singles and won the doubles with Hunt at the last two tournaments in Cardiff in 2011 and 2012, could again be among Hunt's biggest challengers this year. Turkey's Busra Un adds an international flavour to the women's field, which also includes Luz Esperanza Merry, a member of Great Britain's World Team Cup-winning junior team alongside Jones in Turkey in May this year.
''Being able to bring an international standard tournament to North Wales is a great opportunity to expose wheelchair tennis to an ever-growing audience and participation base," said Tournament Director Simon Clarke. "It provides top quality competition as well as creating additional participation opportunities across the North Wales disability tennis network and it's very exciting for Tennis Wales and, in particular, tennis in North Wales."
Wrexham Tennis Centre secretary Debbie King added, ''Wrexham Tennis Centre is very excited to have been asked to host this prestigious event and we are looking forward to bringing top class wheelchair tennis back to Wrexham.''
The Wrexham tournament will give players the chance to play for valuable ranking points and hone their preparations for the ITF 1 Series Nottingham Indoor, Britain's last world ranking event of the year, which takes place at Nottingham Tennis Centre on 23-27 October, organised by the Tennis Foundation.