Two Somerset full time players have been drawn in the first round of the Ilkley futures tournament taking place between 3rd and 9th of July.
Gabb, who trained at Millfield before going full time and playing at Bath International High Performance centre, came into the event as a qualifier after beating Mark Bowtell and Anton Bettink in the qualifying event. Gabb is currently ranked at 1205 in the world and is looking for a successful run in the event to break into the top 1000.
Marsalek who started training at Taunton at the age of 10 has been training full time at the National Tennis Centre in London has made progress up the rankings this summer and is currently sitting on the cusp of the top 1000 at 1105 in the world. He also made it through the qualifying draw beating Maniel Bains and Ed Corrie both in straight sets to take his place in the main draw.
Gabb and Marsalek have both represented Somerset in AEGON County Cup events in recent years and represent some of the highest standard players that the county has produced since Lee Childs peaked at 251 in the world in 2004.
The event, sponsored by JM Glendinning Group, takes place each year on the grass courts of the prestigious Ilkley Lawn Tennis & Squash Club and will see players from more than 30 countries battling it out for the title and for world ranking points. The event takes place each year the week after Wimbledon to showcase some of the up and coming talent in the men’s and women’s games.
This year’s entry list is headed by Switzerland’s world No.333 Alexander Sadecky, who has plenty of match practice on grass this summer having played qualifiers at the AEGON Trophy in Nottingham, Halle in Germany and Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands.
The British list of players includes David Rice, Chris Eaton, last year’s winner Josh Goodall, and Alex Ward. Rising stars Sean Thornley, Kyle Edmund, Marcus Willis, Lewis Burton, Burnham Arlidge and local hero Kyle Brassington are also in the main draw.
Play starts daily at 11am from the 3rd July with the men’s singles final from 1pm on Saturday 9th July.
For more information please visit: www.lta.org.uk/AEGONGBProSeries
To find a playing partner, a local court or coach, visit www.allplaytennis.com
For further information, please contact the club on 01943 607182 or email info@iltsc.co.uk or log onto www.iltsc.co.uk.