The opening day of main draw at the Aegon GB Pro-Series Newcastle got off to a bang on Tuesday with the 2nd, 4th, and 6th seeds all bowing out at the first hurdle.
22 year old qualifier Keelan Oakley produced the biggest upset dispatching 2nd seed and world number 275, Tak Khunn Wang 6-4, 6-4. Oakley, who recently spent over 12 months on the side lines with a serious back injury, which ultimately required surgery, fed off his qualifying victories when capturing the first set 6-4. However, when Parisien Wang, who was making his debut on British soil, established a 3-0 lead in the 2nd set, it looked like an upset might not be on the cards after all. Oakley though was not to be denied, winning 6 of the next 7 games to capture his best victory at pro level.
Meanwhile, another qualifier Australian Jake Eames, upset 4th seed Alex Ward in a marathon 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 victory, whilst Jack Carpenter completed the trio of upsets when beating Bournemouth winner and 6th seed in Newcastle, Liam Broady, 6-4, 7-5. Like Oakley, Carpenter had to recover from a 3 game deficit in the 2nd set, recovering from 1-4 to win 6 of the next 7 games.
2013 champion Ashley Hewitt, was stretched all the way in his 7-6(2), 7-5 defeat of the giant German Pirmin Haenle, but 3rd seed and last week’s Edinburgh winner Marcus Willis was clinical in his 6-2, 6-3 defeat of another qualifier Imran Aswat.
Top seed Kyle Edmund, returning to The Northumberland Club, where he reached the quarter-finals as a 17 year old in 2012, was ruthless in making short work of Spanish qualifier Bruno Argudo-Toro in front of a healthy crowd.
Play starts at 10.00am on Wednesday with free entry to spectators.
Photo of Keelan Oakley beating Wang on Tuesday, by Nick Clark Imaging