It’s been a brilliant week in Birmingham, with sensational ‘class on grass’ performances, beautiful sunshine and the ultimate title defence.
Check out five of our favourite moments that made the 2018 Nature Valley Classic...
1. Stars serve the perfect afternoon tea
British No.2 Heather Watson and world No.5 Elina Svitolina warmed up for the week by learning how to serve the perfect afternoon tea. The pair talked tennis and preparation whilst indulging in the traditional British pastime…
2. Tennis for Kids with Katie Boulter
Hot on the heels of reaching her first WTA singles quarter-final last week in Nottingham, Britain’s rising star Katie Boulter took time out to join local youngsters on court. Midlands-born Boulter went along to a Tennis for Kids session at the Edgbaston Archery Tennis Club, where she got stuck into the fun and games and shared her top tips for success…
3. Dennis’ day out
The Nature Valley Classic hit record-breaking sales this year with more fans entering the grounds than ever before. They have all been amazing but a special shout out goes to Dennis the Bear from Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. Dennis won hearts on his big day out at the tennis and made lots of friends along the way!
4. Floss Fever
The Floss Dance craze continued to take the tennis world by storm. The ball kids were the first to catch ‘Floss Fever’ before the volunteers, grounds team, finalist Magdalena Rybarikova and Eurosport squad gave it a whirl…
5. Queen Kvitova
2017 champion Petra Kvitova returned to Birmingham in flawless form and made the final without dropping a single set, defeating British No.1 Johanna Konta, Daria Gavrilova, Julia Goerges and Mihaela Buzarnescu en route.
She faced her good friend Magdalena Rybarikova on Sunday’s final and battled back from a set down to lift the Maud Watson trophy for a second straight year. By doing so, she re-wrote the history books by becoming the first player to defend the title since Sharapova in 2004 and 2005. All hail Queen Kvitova!
Want more unmissable action?
Get ahead of the game and secure your seat for next year! Tickets for the 2019 Nature Valley Classic are on sale now and can be purchased online.
Kvitova and Rybarikova will both head to Eastbourne for the Nature Valley International - keep up-to-date by following daily round-ups on the British Tennis website and check out all the latest news and behind-the-scenes footage on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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