Somerset’s Bethany Lacey and Sophia Butland had to settle for third-place finishes at the Taunton Open sponsored by HEAD after being edged out in the semi-finals of their respective draws.
Exceptional performances in the girls under-14s, under-16s and under-18s saw Lacey, who is a member of Misteron Tennis Club, reach the semi-finals of all three events, but she was unable to progress to the final in any of the draws.
Lacey was narrowly beaten 6-1, 4-6, 1-0(5) by eventual runner up Emily Staddon, Devon, in the under-14s semi-finals. But she ended the event with a victory after completing a 6-4, 6-1, 1-0(5) win over Sophie Clark, Wiltshire, in the 3rd/4th place playoff. The draw was eventually won by Olivia Chivers, South Wales.
In the under-16s she lost to Alice Warren, South Wales, 6-3, 6-1. Warren was then beaten by Nadia Rawson, Cornwall, in the final. Lacey was awarded a third-place finish after receiving a walkover in the playoff match. In the under-18s, Lacey made it a hat-trick of third-place finishes after narrowly losing out to Natalie Hepburn, Hampshire & Isle of Wight, in the semi-finals 3-6, 6-0, 1-0(2) before receiving another walkover in the playoff.
Sophie Butland, the county’s number one ranked under-18s and women’s player, completed a third-placed finish of her own after she was beaten 6-3, 6-2 by Devon’s Mia Loye in the semi-finals of the Women’s draw. Under-18s winner Natalie Hepburn doubled up her success by winning the event.
The winners of the other events from the tournament at Taunton Tennis Club were; Tarun Darvay, Avon –U10 Boys, Dalanda Bah (Surrey ) – U10s Girls, Toby Samuel (Dorset) - U12s Boys, Alessandra Ruggieri (Surrey)- U12s Girls, Declan Moran (Avon)- U14s Boys, Erik Wilson (Devon) - U16 Boys, Edward Hardiman (Avon) - U18s Boys, Buzzy Avis (Devon) – Men’s.
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