Day 7 - Thrilling matches in both men's and women's singles finals
On an exciting finals day at LTA’s Ilkley Trophy, it was Germany’s Dominik Koepfer who took home the men’s singles trophy, after triumphing over Austria’s Dennis Novak in a tense match. The German lost the first set 6-3 but fought back to win the second 6-3, therefore taking the game to a deciding third set in which he eventually prevailed 7-6.
The second final of the day was also a thriller, as it saw Monica Niculescu lift the women’s singles trophy after beating Hungarian Timea Babos. The Romanian won the first set 6-2, before Babos came back to win the second 6-4. Niculescu went on to win the third set 6-3, ensuring it would be her to take home the trophy.
Day 6 - Doubles champions confirmed
It was Brazilian pairing Beatriz Haddad Maia and Luisa Stefani that took the ITF Women’s Doubles trophy on day six of the LTA’s Ilkley Trophy. A tense game on centre court saw the Brazilians beat Ellen Perez (AUS) and Arina Rodionova (AUS) 6-4, 6(5)-7, [10-4].
Lifting the men’s doubles trophy was Santiago Gonzalez (MEX) and No. 1 seed Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK), beating 18-time grand slam doubles champion Leander Paes (IND) and Marcus Daniell (NZL) in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.
The day also saw four thrilling semi-finals, with Dominik Koepfer and Dennis Novak sealing a place in tomorrow’s men’s final. Koepfer (GER) beat Go Soeda (JPN) in straight sets 4-6, 1-6, while Novak (AUT) beat No. 10 seed Kamil Majchrzak (POL) 7-6(1), 6(3)-7, 3-6 in a very tight game.
On Court 2, Timea Babos had a fantastic win to take her through to the final, beating Bibiane Schoofs (NED) in straight sets 7-5, 6-3 while Monica Niculescu (ROU) had to fight a little harder for her win, eventually beating Jana Cepelova (SVK) 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 and earning a spot in tomorrow’s final.
Day 5 - Paes and Daniell advance to Men's Doubles final
The Australian pairing of Ellen Perez and Arina Rodinova were first up on centre court today and successfully defeated the reigning champions, No.2 seeds Asia Muhammad and Maria Sanchez (USA) 6-2, 6-7, 10-7.
Joining them in the final tomorrow will be Beatriz Haddad Maia and Luisa Stefani (BRA) who beat No.4 seeds Anna Blinkova (RUS) and Shuai Peng (CHN) 7-6, 6-3.
Tomorrow’s men’s doubles final will see the two top seeds compete for the 2019 title. Santiago Gonzalez (MEX) and Aisam-Ul-Haq Quereshi (PAK) were taken to a tie-break by Marius Copil (ROU) and Ugo Humbert (FRA) before ultimately coming out on top 6-0,4-6, 10-4. They will face two previous Ilkley doubles champions, teaming up for the first time, Marcus Daniell (NZL) and Leander Paes (IND) who defeated Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) and Purav Raja (IND) 6-3, 7-6.
In the women's singles, Timea Babos (HUN) needed three sets to beat Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia 7-6, 4-6, 6-4. She will now face Bibiane Schoofs (NDL) tomorrow, who also took a three set route to the semi-finals against the No.3 seed Anna Blinkova (RUS) 4-6, 7-6, 6-4.
The 2018 women’s Ilkley champion Tereza Smitkova (CZE) won’t be retaining her title following her loss to Monica Niculescu (ROU) 6-4, 6-3. The final semi-final place goes to Jana Cepelova (SVK) who defeated Veronica Cepede Royg (PAR) 6-4, 7-6.
The men’s singles quarter finals saw the top seed Ugo Humbert (FRA) lose a tight match to Germany’s Dominik Koepfer 6-4, 6-3. No. 10 seed Kamil Majchrzak (POL) defeated the No.13 seed, Antoine Hoang (FRA) 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Japan’s Go Soeda wasted little time dispatching No.6 seed Marcel Granollers (ESP) 7-5, 6-4 with the final semi-final place going to Dennis Novak (AUT) with the No.9 seed emerging victorious in the last match of the day against Lukas Rosol (CZE) by winning 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.
Day 4 - Brits narrowly miss out on quarter-finals
Day four, ladies day, at the Ilkley Trophy was filled with tough grass court battles as the last Brits standing made their exit.
Katie Swan fell in a close three set match on centre court against the 2018 Ilkley champion, Tereza Smitkova (CZA) while a packed crowd watched as their Yorkshire favourite Paul Jubb couldn’t continue his winning streak against the ninth seed Dennis Novak (AUT), 6-3, 6-2.
2017 Ilkley champion Magdalena Rynarikova (SVK) missed out on a return to the finals following a convincing defeat by Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA). Centre court also saw action from sixth seed Marcel Granollers (ESP) who defeated Gregoire Barrere (FRA), seeded eleventh, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.
There was success too for top seed Ugo Humbert (FRA) who defeated Soonwoo Kwon 6-2, 7-5 on court one and the remaining ladies seed, Anna Blinkova (RUS) over Martina Di Giuseppe (ITA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Closing out the day in style was the doubles pairing of Marcus Daniell (NZL) and Leander Paes (IND) who took Australian duo Matt Reid and John-Patrick Smith to a tie break, winning 6-7, 7-6, [10-7].
Day 3 - Klein and Lumsden unable to progress on day three
A warm Wednesday at the LTA’s Ilkley Trophy didn’t get off to the best start for the British contingent as Brydan Klein was defeated by No.15 seed Mikael Ymer 6-3, 6-1 and Maia Lumsden was beaten 6-3, 6-1 by Varvara Flink.
On Centre Court, the first match of the day saw No. 7 seed Jiri Vesely beat Bjorn Fratangelo 6-1, 6-4. Fellow American Mitchell Krueger also lost out; he was defeated by No. 3 seed Marius Copil in a tight game which finished 7-6(5), 7-6(4). No. 12 seed Jason Jung won 7-6(2), 6-1 against Australia’s Alex Bolt, while Ruben Bemelmans beat Evgeny Karlovskiy 6-4, 6-1 in the last game of the day on Centre Court.
The first game of the day on Court 2 saw a great game between Robin Anderson and Marta Kostyuk, with the American winning 4-6, 7-6(0), 6-2. Over on Court 4, Jana Cepelova had a fantastic win, beating Ivana Jorovic in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. In the doubles, Brits Naiktha Bains and Maia Lumsden were defeated by Brazlian duo Beatriz Haddad Maia and Luisa Stefani 6-3, 2-6, [10-7].
Day 2 - Jubb and Swan knockout top seeds
The second day of the lkley Trophy was full of surprises, with young British star Paul Jubb knocking out Brazilian Thiago Monteiro and fellow Brit Katie Swan knocking out second seed Pauline Parmentier.
Jubb took the Brazalian (who is ranked 475 places above him) to a third set, winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in front of a thrilled Yorkshire crowd. He goes on to play ninth seed Dennis Novak. Brydan Klein lost his first game to fellow Brit Jan Choinski but came back to win the second and third set, winning the match 2-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Liam Broady’s match against Stefano Napolitano, which was suspended last night due to poor weather, ended in defeat for the left-hander with the Italian winning 7-6(5), 6-2. Another British player, Evan Hoyt, lost out to Korean Soon-Woo Kwon 6-0, 6-4. In the doubles, Indian pairing Jeevan Neduncheziyan and Purav Raja proved too strong for Broady and Scott Clayton, winning 7-6(6), 6-3.
20-year-old Katie Swan had a sensational win on court two, beating the no.2 seed in straight sets 7-6(4), 6-4. Fellow Brit Holly Staff didn’t fare so well and was beaten 6-3, 6-1 by En Shuo Liang. Gabriella Taylor fought a tough game against last year’s tournament winner Tereza Smitkova but lost 6-3, 7-5.
Day 1 - Jubb delights home crowd
It was a slightly damp start to the 2019 Ilkley Trophy, but the crowd were still treated to a fantastic day of tennis.
It was a good start to the tournament for Brydan Klein, with the Brit beating Evgeny Karlovskiy 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. Fellow Brit Andrew Watson didn’t fare quite so well as he was beaten by Croatian Viktor Galovic 6-4, 6-4. American Bjorn Fratangelo proved too much for Britain’s Ryan Peniston with a hard-fought 7-5, 6-4 win. A thrilling match saw the exciting 19-year-old home favourite Paul Jubb, from Yorkshire, beat Belarusian Egor Gerasimov to progress to the next round and delight the Ilkley crowd.
Over on Court One, last year’s runner up Oscar Otte was one of the shock losses of the day, with Australian Jason Kubler beating the German 6-4, 6-2. Japan’s Yuichi Sugita achieved a win of 6-1, 7-6 against Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, whilst USA’s Marcos Giron won in straight sets over Italian Filippo Baldi.
The tournament didn’t get off to the best start for Britain’s women, with Holly Fischer losing 6-4, 6-2 to Italian Martina Di Giuseppe. Alicia Barnett lost out to Greek Valentini Grammatikopoulou after a long game finished 7-6(6), 2-6, [10-7], while another Brit, Amelia Rajecki lost a tough game to Ukrainian Katarina Yavatska 6-1, 6-0. Russian Valeria Savinykh and Paraguayan Veronica Cepede Royg were also victorious on Court Five. The game between Ilkley returnee Liam Broady and Stefano Nepolitano reached a tie break at 6-6 before being suspended due to poor weather and will continue tomorrow morning.
On Court Three, Slovakia’s Jana Cepelova beat Belgian Kimberley Zimmermann in straight sets, while German Anna Zaja beat Australian Arina Rodionova also in straight sets. Robin Anderson beat her fellow American Asia Muhammed, while Lesley Kerkhove of the Netherlands was victorious over Australian Zoe Hives.