Day 7 - Evans crowned men’s champion, Riske defends title
Great Britain’s Dan Evans lifted the trophy on the final day of the Surbiton Trophy, defeating Viktor Troicki 6-2, 6-3 in a rain-interrupted final at the Surbiton Racket & Fitness Club.
Evans is the first Brit to win an ATP Challenger on British soil since he won his first title in Jersey in 2009. He is also the first Brit to win an ATP Challenger on grass since Alex Bogdanovic triumphed in Nottingham in 2005.
The fourth seed was in impressive form from the outset, racing to a 3-0 lead in the opening set and breaking again before clinching the first set in 31 minutes. Following a rain delay, he raced to a 3-0 lead once more before his opponent got a game on the board. The former world No.12 fought back to 3-3, but once again Evans proved too strong, easing to a straight sets victory in 72 minutes.
“It’s a great start to the grass court season,” said Evans, who is projected to rise to around world No.70 in the ATP Rankings on Monday. “Viktor seemed a bit flat and I got on top early – I could have been even more clinical in the second set.It was a tough match and I am just grateful to get those in and come through a few with no injuries. I lost to Jeremy Chardy here last year and Dustin Brown before that, so this was good. The quality and competition is always high at this tournament.”
America's Alison Riske successfully defended her Surbiton Trophy title, prevailing in a tough encounter against 2017 champion Magdalena Rybarikova 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2.
The first set was a closely contested affair with the players exchanging early breaks and battling through a 23-point game at 5-5 before the Slovakian took the tiebreak after 67 minutes. From then on Riske upped her game, securing a double break in the second set to level the score and then pulling away in the third to clinch victory.
“It feels awesome. I’m most excited about the match I just played as I overcame a lot of things mentally just to be able to stay out there competitively with Magda,” said Riske. “She’s a great competitor but I kept playing the same level, I think I was very consistent with that, and in the end that’s what pushed me over the edge.”
Top seeds Marcel Granollers and Ben McLachlan were crowned men’s doubles champions in what was their first tournament together. The duo battled back from a set down to defeat Soonwoo Kwon and Ramkumar Ramanathan 4-6, 6-3, [10-2] in the final.
“It was a really tough match. These guys came out on fire and were serving really aggressively so we didn’t get many chances until Marcel came up with an unbelievable game to break in the second,” said McLachlan.
“It’s been an awesome tournament, I love playing on grass and this victory means a lot. Marcel has had an amazing doubles career and I’m glad I got to play with him.”
Day 6 - Evans reaches singles final, Riske to face Rybarikova for women’s title
Great Britain’s Dan Evans battled through a tough semi-final against sixth seed Marius Copil 7-6(3), 6-7(4), 6-4 to reach the final where he will play Viktor Troicki.
Evans battled back from a break down in the first two sets to force a tiebreak and then secured the only break of serve in the third to claim victory in two hours 53 minutes.
“It was a tough match, I didn’t do much wrong – just missed a couple of volleys today at bad times, and it is really good to come through those,” said Evans. “He is a good grass-court player, and has done well here before so I am really pleased to be in the final.”
Awaiting Evans in the final will be Troicki who overcame fifth seed Denis Kudla 3-6m 7-6(5), 7-5 for his second victory of the day. The Serbian had upset eighth seed Ivo Karlovic 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(4) in his quarter-final match earlier on Saturday.
Third seed Alison Riske remained on course to successfully defend her title, defeating Katy Dunne 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-1 in the quarter-finals and qualifier Caty McNally 6-0 ,6-4 in the semi-finals to book her place in the final against 2017 champion Magdalena Rybarikova.
Rybarikova was in scintillating form in her two matches on Saturday, defeating Heather Watson 6-4, 6-4 and second seeds Tatjana Maria 6-4 6-2 to advance to the final.
“The smallest margins made the difference today. I felt in the first set I was the better player, I had a lot of chances but wasn’t able to take any and then when she had her chance she took it straight away,” said Watson.
“Overall I am happy with my matches this week, particularly with how I’m striking the ball as I didn’t expect to be hitting it so well this early on in the grass court season. It was also great to get through to the doubles final, I have got lots of matches under my belt this week.”
Doubles top seeds Marcel Granollers and Ben McLachlan overcame Luke Bambridge, last year’s winner here with Jonny O’Mara, and Marcus Daniell 6-4, 7-6(3) to reach the doubles final where they will face Soonwoo Kwon and Ramkumar Ramanathan, who defeated wildcards Evans and Lloyd Glasspool 6-4, 6-7(3), [10-4] in their semi-final.
Day 5 - Brady and Dolehide win doubles title, Evans advances to semi-finals
USA’s Jennifer Brady and Caroline Dolehide won their first women’s doubles title together when they defeated Yanina Wickmayer and Heather Watson 6-3, 6-4 in 56 minutes in the final at the Surbiton Trophy.
The final was played on an indoor hard court at the National Tennis Centre after rain affected Friday’s play at the Surbiton Racket and Fitness Club.
“Any title is good for the confidence and I’m really happy to have played this week with Caroline. We are pretty good friends, we had a lot of fun and we are happy to get the title,” said Brady.
Just two matches were completed on the grass courts at Surbiton on Friday. Dan Evans advanced to the semi-finals for the second straight year after he defeated Spanish tenth seed Marcel Granollers 6-4 6-2. The Briton battled back from a break down early in the first set and recorded three breaks of serve in the second to take victory in 69 minutes.
“Marcel is good. I find it hard to play against him and the conditions were difficult so it was good to get the win and I’m looking forward to the semi-finals tomorrow,” said Evans.
Evans’ opponent in Saturday’s semi-final will be Marius Copil who upset second seed Matthew Ebden 6-3, 6-2.
Day 4 - Dunne, Watson and Evans advance to quarter-finals
Great Britain’s Katy Dunne, Heather Watson and Dan Evans all prevailed in their matches on Thursday at the Surbiton Trophy to reach the quarter-finals.
Dunne provided another upset when she took out Tereza Smitkova, a player raked 140 places above her, 6-4, 6-4 on Court 1 and will now face reigning champion Alison Riske for a spot in the semi-finals.
“I had to be really calm and on my job. She’s an aggressive player and she can serve really well which makes it tough on grass so I was more focused on what I needed to do and tried to be aggressive when I could,” said Dunne.
Watson battled back from 0-4 down in the opening set to defeat Madison Brengle 6-4, 6-2 and set up a quarter-final clash against No.5 seed and 2017 winner Magdalena Rybarikova.
“I’m so pleasantly surprised by how well I’ve started the grass court season as coming from clay every year is a really tough transition,” said Heather. “I’ve known Maddie for a long time, we trained together in America for many years so we know each other well and I really respect her as a player. She’s very solid so I knew I’d have to play really well today to beat her and I did.”
The other women’s quarter-finals will see top seed Alison van Uytvanck take on qualifier Caty McNally while No.2 seed Tatjana Maria will face Yanina Wickmayer.
On the men’s side there was a victory for No.4 seed Evans over Australia’s Alex Bolt 5-7, 6-2, 6-0. Evans’ quarter-final opponent will be No.10 seed Marcel Granollers, who ended Bernard Tomic’s hopes in straight sets in the third round.
No.5 seed Denis Kudla defeated James Ward 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 and will now play Matthias Bachinger for a semi-final spot. There were also wins for No.8 seed Ivo Karlovic over 2017 Fever-Tree Champion Feliciano Lopez and Viktor Troicki, who knocked out No.14 seed Peter Polansky.
Day 3 - Wins for Dunne, Watson, Evans and Ward
Great Britain’s Katy Dunne, Dan Evans and Heather Watson got their 2019 grass court campaigns off to a winning start on an action-packed day three at the Surbiton Trophy while victory for James Ward ensured he advanced to the third round.
Wildcard Dunne recorded a 6-3, 6-3 victory over qualifier Ankita Raina, a player ranked 92 places above her, to advance to the second round where she will face Tereza Smitkova, who upset No.8 seed Vitalia Diatchenko 6-4, 6-3 in her opening match.
“I think I handled the nerves and pressure well. I was pretty focused, concentrating on doing all of my jobs, being aggressive and taking one point at a time and it worked,” said Dunne.
Watson will join her compatriot in the next round after she overcame Evgeniya Rodina 6-4 6-1 in exactly an hour.
“Considering that was my first match on grass this season I was extremely happy with the way I played,” said Watson. “I didn’t expect to be playing as good as I was today as it normally takes time to get used to a new surface.”
On the men’s side No.4 seed Evans defeated Ruben Bemelmans 6-4, 6-4 while Ward came back from a set down to upset No.12 seed Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4.
“I was pleased with the way I played today. He is a good grass court player and has qualified for Wimbledon a few times so it was a great match to start off the grass court season and especially against a lefty, they can be tough and difficult,” said Evans.
Former world No. 12 Viktor Troicki knocked top seed Ugo Humbert out of the tournament after he recorded a 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-3 victory over the Frenchman, while 2017 Fever-Tree Champion Feliciano Lopez battled past Daniel Brands 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 to set up a third round clash with 40-year-old Ivo Karlovic.
There were defeats for Britain’s Maia Lumsden, who fell 6-1, 6-4 to Madison Brengle, lucky loser Alastair Gray, who was defeated by Soonwoo Kwon 6-2 7-5, and Brydan Klein, also a lucky loser, who suffered a 6-3, 6-3 defeat at the hands of No.9 seed Brayden Schnur.
Day 2- Ebden cruises, whilst Britain's Burrage and Watson fall on rain-interrupted day
No.2 seed Matt Ebden of Australia was in imperious form on a rain-affected day at the Surbiton Trophy, dropping just two games as he eased past Russia’s Evgeny Donskoy 6-2, 6-0 in 54 minutes in his second round match.
Great Britain’s Jodie Burrage suffered a tough loss against Vera Lapko in the opening match on Court 1. The London-based player served for the match and held four match points in her 7-5 6-7(8) 7-6(6) defeat by the Belarusian. There was also disappointment for her compatriot Andrew Watson, who advanced through qualifying on Monday, as he fell 6-2, 6-2 to Yunseong Chung.
There was a British victory in the doubles after Katy Dunne and Emily Webley-Smith overcame Alexa Guarachi and Erin Routliffe 7-6(4), 2-6, [10-4].
There were also wins for former world No.12 Viktor Troicki, who battled back from a set down to defeat Jurij Rodionov 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-2, and Lukas Lacko, who knocked out No.13 seed Peter Gojowczyk in two tiebreak sets. Just nine matches were completed on Tuesday due to rain.
Play will start at the earlier time of 10am on Wednesday, with a busy schedule of men’s and women’s matches promising a packed day for fans.
Day 1 - Brit success from James Ward, Brydan Klein and Andrew Watson as they progress in main draw and qualifying
There were main draw wins for Great Britain’s James Ward and Brydan Klein on the opening day’s play at the Surbiton Trophy while their countryman Andrew Watson also secured victory in his qualifying match.
Ward saw off wildcard Paul Jubb, the 19 year old from Hull who has been enjoying big success on the American college circuit, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 on Centre Court to set up a second round match against No.12 seed Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine.
“It was a good match, I think we both played a good level. It was tough throughout, we both served well and didn’t give each other too many opportunities. At the end it came down to a couple of points, it could have gone either way,” said Ward.
Surrey's Andrew Watson defeated No.2 seed Brydan Klein 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 in their qualifying match but Klein then made the most of a lucky loser main draw spot, battling back from a set down to overcome Australia’s Andrew Harris 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in his first round match later the same day.
There were disappointing results for the British women with Emily Appleton, Naomi Broady, Victoria Allen and Eden Silva all falling in the first round of qualifying. Alastair Gray also exited at the same stage in the men’s event while there were first round main draw losses for Ryan Peniston, Evan Hoyt, Liam Broady, Jay Clarke and Lloyd Glasspool.