LevertonWilliams Tennis coach Daniel Stuk and Director of Tennis Adrian Williams recently competed in the ITF Grade 1 International Clay Court Championships of Great Britain.
As an ITF Grade 1 International event, the tournament accepts entries from some of the best players from around the world to compete in a variety of age groups from Over 35 to Over 85 years old. This is the premier event on the British Seniors calendar and widely regarded as one the top events of its kind in the world.
Played over 1 week in May, this years event saw over 450 matches played on the clay courts of the West Hants Club in Dorset. Daniel and Adrian competed in the Over 35 men’s singles and doubles events. Adrian reached the last 16 in the singles where he lost to World Number 1 Colin Bennett. Daniel, competing in his first singles competition in over 15 years, played fantastic tennis to reach the final where he too lost out to the world number 1 player. Along the way Dan beat three players who were higher ranked including World number 28, Danny Ward.
In the doubles event Daniel and Adrian eased their way into the final where they faced the unbeaten pairing of Colin Bennett and Seb Jackson. Colin is ranked number 3 in the World in Over 35 doubles with Seb ranked number 4 in Over 40 doubles, which presented a tough task for Daniel and Adrian. Both these players represent Great Britain Internationally and are highly regarded on the ITF Senior World Tour.
After a closely fought first set the LevertonWilliams pairing secured a crucial break of serve to close out the first set 6-3. The second set followed a similar pattern until the LevertonWilliams pairing were ahead 4-3. After some excellent work on return of serve Daniel and Adrian secured a vital break to leave them serving for the match. After squandering two match points the LevertonWilliams pair lost out in the third set match tie-break.
A thrilling end to a great week from Daniel and Adrian, in their first tournament at this level. They have proved that they can compete at International level and have an exciting summer ahead of them as they push to secure a place in the British Team for the World Team Championships, taking place in San Diego in 2014.
For more information on ITF Senior tennis please visit www.itftennis.com
For more information on LevertonWilliams Tennis please visit www.levertonwilliams.com