Manchester Trophy: Daily updates from the Northern Lawn Tennis Club

Day 7 - Linette crowned champion, Duan/Zhu win doubles title

Magda Linette prevailed in a tough three-set encounter against Zarina Diyas to win her first grass court title at the LTA’s Manchester Trophy on Sunday.

The top seed and world No.96 from Poland needed two hours 14 minutes to secure a 7-6(1), 2-6, 6-3 victory over 2017 champion Diyas in a match which was interrupted by rain.

A nervy start from Linette saw her broken in the first game but a rain delay at 2-1 helped her to regroup. She won four consecutive games on the resumption of the match to lead 5-2 and although she was pegged back to 5-5, she retained her focus and took the first set in the tie-break after 58 minutes. 
 
Diyas raised her level in the second set, breaking twice thanks to some punishing groundstrokes and quickly levelled the score at a set apiece. The Kazakh maintained her momentum at the start of the decider, breaking in the opening game but Linette immediately broke back. The next four games went with serve before Linette secured a crucial break of serve in the seventh game and then held on to serve out the match.
 
“It feels amazing, especially because it’s my first title on the grass,” said Linette. “I’m really happy because these tournaments before Wimbledon are really tough because there aren’t many of them and all the girls want to play. I was happy to play all my matches on the grass and to play so well.”

 
Duan Ying-Ying and Zhu Lin made their first week together a successful one when they lifted the trophy in the women’s doubles. The Chinese pair, who knocked out second seeds Jiang Xinyu and Tang Qianhui in the semi-finals, defeated Robin Anderson and Laura-Ioana Paar 6-4, 6-3 in the final in just 67 minutes. It was a second final in as many weeks for Duan who finished runner-up in the women's doubles at Roland Garros last Sunday with Zheng Saisai.
 
“We prepared a lot last night and our coach told us a lot about them so we were ready, but it was a tough match because it’s the final and we were a little nervous,” said Zhu. “We played better and better each match this week and we are really happy to win.” 

Day 6 - Linette to face Diyas in final

Top seed Magda Linette defeated Great Britain’s Samantha Murray 6-3 6-0 in the semi-finals to set up a title decider against 2017 champion Zarina Diyas.

Linette needed just 54 minutes to record a straight sets victory over Stockport’s Murray in a match which was interrupted by rain. The Polish player capitalised on her first break point in the eighth game and then served out the first set before producing a dominant display in the second, breaking three times to seal victory and book her spot in Sunday’s final. 
 
“I’m feeling great. I’m happy because you never know on the grass, it’s a really difficult surface especially against players that serve as well as Samantha can,” said Linette. “I knew I needed to be really focused on every point because it can turn around at any moment and I just needed to wait for my chance.” 
 
Awaiting Linette in the final is Diyas who had to complete her quarter-final match against Xiyu Wang before taking on No.2 seed Madison Brengle in the semi-finals on Saturday. The Kazakh’s last eight match had been suspended at 7-6(1) 5-2 on Friday evening and resumed for just one game on Saturday, Diyas serving out the victory to book her spot in the final four. The world No.101 then upset Brengle 6-1 7-5 in 73 minutes to advance to her second final at The Northern Tennis Club. 
 
“It was really tough because yesterday I couldn’t finish my match so today I had to play and it was not easy mentally to stay focused but I handled it well,” said Diyas. “I’m really happy with my game, particularly in the second match because it was not easy. She was playing really good, winning a lot of balls back and it was windy so it was tough to control the ball but I played well and I’m happy with the win.”

Robin Anderson and Laura-Ioana Paar saved two match points on their way to victory over Manchester's Naomi Broady and her American partner Asia Muhammad 6-3 6-7(4) 12-10 in the semi-finals of the doubles. Anderson and Paar will face China's Ying-Ying Duan and Lin Zhu in Sunday’s doubles final. 

Alongside the main event from 10-16 June a host of activities for children and ticket holders will be taking place throughout the week including the Quorn Family Cup for parents and children, the Team Challenge, giving local players an opportunity to play on world-class grass courts and She Rallies, aimed at getting more women and girls engaged in the sport.  Around 700 local school children will also have the chance to visit the event and experience world-class live tennis.

Day 5 - Murray advances to semi-finals at Manchester Trophy

Stockport’s Samantha Murray continued her impressive form at the LTA’s Manchester Trophy, upsetting No.7 seed Marie Bouzkova before overcoming countrywoman Naomi Broady to reach the semi-finals.

Murray, who advanced through qualifying on Monday, defeated Bouzkova 7-5 6-4 in an hour and 41 minutes on an indoor hard court in her first match of the day. The first set contained seven breaks of serve before Murray held to win it while just one break of serve was enough in the second set for the Briton to claim victory.

In her second match of the day on Centre Court, Murray got the better of Manchester’s Broady, who had needed just 65 minutes to defeat Gabriella Taylor 6-2 6-4 earlier in the day, 7-6(4) 6-2. Some impressive serving from both players ensured it was a tight first set before Murray capitalised on a couple of loose service games from the wildcard, winning four consecutive games to record a straight sets triumph in 78 minutes.

“It was really tough. I know Naomi really well, we’ve played so many times so we both know each other’s games inside out,” said Murray. “She served well but then it went off a bit at the end which gave me a chance. I’m really pleased as I thought it was a high level match.”

Murray will play top seed Magda Linette, who defeated Sachia Vickery and Lizette Cabrera in her two matches on Friday, in the semi-finals on Saturday. The second semi-final will see No.2 seed Madison Brengle take on the winner of the quarter-final match between No.3 seed Zarina Diyas and Xiyu Wang which was suspended at 7-6(1) 5-2 due to rain.

Inclement weather once again affected the schedule on Friday with play starting on the indoor hard courts before a dry spell allowed for matches to take place on the outdoor grass courts. More rain later in the day also meant the final two doubles matches had to be played inside.

Day 4 - Appleton and Murray lead British doubles success as singles matches postponed

Great Britain’s Emily Appleton and Samantha Murray led the British charge into the quarter-finals of the doubles at the Manchester Trophy on Thursday. The wildcard pairing joined compatriots Alicia Barnett and Olivia Nicholls and countrywoman Naomi Broady and her American partner Asia Muhammad in the last eight of the doubles which is taking place this week at The Northern Tennis Club. 
 
With rain affecting play on the outside grass courts, the first round of doubles was moved to the indoor hard courts while all singles matches were cancelled for the day. 
 
Appleton and Murray prevailed in a tight encounter against the American pairing of Madison Brengle and Jamie Loeb 6-4, 2-6, [10-8] in 73 minutes to reach the last eight where they will face No.2 seeds Xinyu Jiang and Qianhui Tang.
 
The British duo managed to turn a 4-1 deficit around in the first set, winning five straight games to take the opener but couldn’t recover from losing the first four games of the second. The pair regained their momentum in the match tiebreak, volleying well to bring up six match points and withstood a late charge from their opponents to clinch victory.
 
“It was a really close match. Even in the tiebreak we had a few match points and they played some really good points but luckily we managed to put it away at the end,” said Murray. 

 
Stockport’s Broady and Muhammad had an easier time of it against Marie Bouzkova and Vivian Heisen, easing to a 6-2, 6-3 victory to set up a quarter-final clash with Barnett and Nicholls, who raced through their first round match against Viktoriya Tomova and Sachia Vickery 7-5, 6-0 in 61 minutes.
 
Top seeds Broady and Muhammad, who finished runners-up here last year, broke in the sixth and eighth games to claim the first set and then remained solid on serve in the second, racing to a 3-0 lead and serving out the win in exactly an hour.
 
“We haven’t played with each other since Wimbledon last year just due to schedules and stuff but Asia’s ranking has shot up since then so I was eager to get back on court with her this week,” explained Broady. “The indoor courts are pretty quick which suits our game style and I thought we played well together today.”
 
Britain’s Gabriella Taylor and Emily Webley-Smith suffered disappointment when they lost their first round encounter against Robin Anderson and Laura-Ioana Paar 6-4, 6-2.

Day 3 - Taylor, Broady and Murray reach second round at Manchester Trophy

Great Britain’s Gabriella Taylor, Naomi Broady and Samantha Murray all progressed to the second round at the LTA’s Manchester Trophy on Wednesday despite testing weather conditions at The Northern Tennis Club.

Southampton’s Taylor battled back from a set down to triumph over world No.187 Viktoriya Tomova in one hour 59 minutes on Court 3. The wildcard failed to win a game in the first set, falling 6-0 in 21 minutes but found her rhythm in the second, breaking twice to take the set 6-4. A loose service game in the third game of the decider gave the Bulgarian an early advantage but the world No.365 broke back for 5-5 and then edged the tiebreak to claim a 0-6 6-4 7-6(4) victory.

“She played pretty well in the first set and she’s a tough opponent to play on grass, she did really well last year,” said Taylor. “After the first set I thought ‘keep going, keep at it’ and I got through. I played a lot better tennis and I’m happy with my level,” said Taylor.

Taylor’s opponent in the next round will be countrywoman Broady who upset No.4 seed Lin Zhu 6-3 6-3 in 68 minutes in the first match on Centre Court. Manchester’s Broady used her serve to great effect throughout the match, racing to a 3-0 lead in the first set on her way to claiming the opener in 27 minutes before securing another early break in the second. Broady was leading 3-1 when Zhu recovered the break but the world No.392 recovered quickly, claiming the last three games of the match to record a straight sets victory.

“I served really well especially in the first set. I was hitting a lot of aces which helped me out a lot,” said Broady. “She’s ranked a lot higher than me so I knew at some point she was going to get going and start pushing me and she started to do that in the second set. I just tried to keep my cool, know that I was still a set ahead, concentrate on my tactics and not feel too much pressure from the score.”

Stockport’s Murray also recorded a two-set victory, overcoming Asia Muhammad, a player ranked 249 places above her, 6-3 7-6(1) on an indoor hard court in one hour 25 minutes. Murray, who advanced through qualifying, broke her opponent in the second game of the match and was never headed, breaking again in the ninth game to take the first set. The second set was a much closer affair with some clinical serving helping Murray to clinch the match in the tiebreak.

“I think I played a really good match. I was really solid from the start to the finish and I served well throughout,” said Murray. “She has a big serve so it was just about getting a few good returns in to get the break. I wasn’t able to do that in the second set but I played a strong tiebreak.”

There was first round disappointment for Great Britain’s Alicia Barnett, who lost to No.7 seed Marie Bouzkova 6-3 6-1, Emily Webley-Smith, who also only managed to win four games in her 6-1 6-3 defeat to Katherine Sebov, and Katy Dunne, who was forced to retire with an adductor injury at 1-2 down in her match against No.8 seed Whitney Osuigwe.

Day 2 - Rain prevents play at the Manchester Trophy

The elements took their toll on day two at the Northern Lawn Tennis Club in Didsbury as play was abandoned without a ball being struck on the grass courts.

LTA Tournament Director Richard Joyner said: “Obviously it’s disappointing for our players and spectators that we’ve not been able to play outdoors here in Manchester today but we feel we’ve given it as good an opportunity as we could but there has come a point where we have abandoned play for the day and we’re looking to start play at 10:30 tomorrow, weather permitting.”

Despite some small windows in the rain that is affecting the whole of the UK at the moment the opportunities for play quickly disappeared in the early afternoon:

“For the next eight hours the satellites are telling us there is a 95% chance or more of rain. There were a couple of dry spells this morning but for five minutes, we uncovered the courts and it started raining again. So it’s felt that rather than the players and everyone else waiting around for the day that we’ve unfortunately had to take the decision to abandon play and fingers crossed for tomorrow.”

First round matches on Wednesday 12 June will be scheduled for a 10:30 start with British qualifier Samantha Murray from Stockport in action against American Asia Muhammad. Murray will be followed on court in the singles by fellow Brits Katy Dunne, Naomi Broady, Emily Webley-Smith, Alicia Barnett and Gabriella Taylor.

Day 1 - Murray advances through qualifying

Stockport’s Samantha Murray won both her matches on the opening day at the Manchester Trophy to advance through qualifying and reach the main draw.

Eleventh seed Murray produced a clinical performance to defeat countrywoman Lillian Mould 6-2, 6-3 in 61 minutes in her opening match but was forced to work harder for victory in her second match, battling back from a set down to overcome No.6 seed Natalija Kostic 6-7(4), 6-2, [10-6].
 
Murray said: “That second match was really tough. She’s awkward to play against especially on the grass as she slices so much so I had to stay low and I did well to turn it around and come through. 
 
“I’m really pleased to qualify. Last year I had a wildcard and I wasn’t able to win a match here so to actually qualify on my own right is good and I’m looking forward to my next match.”
 
Emily Appleton upset eigth seed Quinn Gleason 6-3, 7-6(3) in her first qualifying match but came up short in her second qualifying match later in the day, losing 6-2, 7-5 to third seed Maddison Inglis of Australia.
 
Main draw matches get underway on Tuesday with top seed Magda Linette, former champion Zarina Diyas and British players Alicia Barnett and Emily Webley-Smith all in action.
 
Poland’s Linette, the world No.87, will face Ann Li, the 2018 Junior Wimbledon runner-up, in the third match on Centre Court while 2017 Manchester Trophy champion Diyas opens her grass court campaign against Jamie Loeb of USA.
 
Barnett will meet the No.7 seed Marie Bouzkova in the second match on Centre Court. The Gloucestershire player took time out from training on Monday to visit St. John’s Primary School in Chorlton to hit with young school children, as part of our mission to open up tennis by making it accessible, welcoming and enjoyable. 

Court 1 will play host to the clash between Webley-Smith and Canada’s Katherine Sebov before the doubles action gets started. Prarthana Thombare, who lifted the doubles trophy last year with Luksika Kumkhum, is back at The Northern this year to defend her title with Tereza Smitkova. The pair face a difficult opening match against third seeds Gleason and Ingrid Neel.
 
Appleton and Murray will partner up to face the American pairing of Madison Brengle and Jamie Loeb, fellow Brits Gabriella Taylor and Webley-Smith will face Robin Anderson and Laura-Ioana Paar while Barnett will combine with Norwich’s Olivia Nicholls to take on Viktoriya Tomova and Sachia Vickery.