British Tennis Review of the Year 2012 - Part IV

With the 2013 tennis season rapidly approaching, we have taken a look back at some of the British highlights on and off the court in 2012. In part four we review some of the action from October to December.

October

Heather Watson became the first British woman to win a WTA singles title since 1988 with a dramatic victory at the HP Open in Osaka. Read more about Heather’s victory here

US Open Champion Andy Murray reached the semi-finals of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo before narrowly losing a thrilling final to Novak Djokovic at the Shanghai Masters 1000.

Ross Hutchins and Colin Fleming reached the semi-finals in Beijing and at the Shanghai Masters 1000 while Dominic Inglot was a finalist at the Swiss Open in Basel with partner Treat Huey.

Ken Skupski and partner Xavier Malisse were finalists at the Open D’Orleans ATP Challenger with Belgian partner Xavier Malisse.

Gordon Reid won his first Super Series title at the US Open USTA Wheelchair Championships by partnering Frenchman Stephane Houdet to victory in the doubles event. Find more details of the championships here

Reid was also a singles finalist at the Nottingham Indoor Wheelchair Tennis Tournament before teaming up with Maikel Scheffers to win the doubles title with a win over the all-British team of Marc McCarroll and David Phillipson in the final.

Kyle Edmund won his first ITF Futures title in Birmingham, Alabama, defeating third seed Chase Buchanan 7-6(2), 2-6, 6-4 in the final.

There were also Futures victories for Neil Paufley and Dan Smethurst in Hambach, Germany and Falun, Sweden respectively while Alex Ward took the doubles title in Essen, Germany, with Dutch partner Romano Frantzen.

Samantha Murray won her first $25K title at the Aegon GB Pro-Series in Glasgow while Ashley Hewitt was runner-up in the Men’s singles. 

Six NATO nations competed at the Ramstein Tennis Tournament played at RAF Halton.  The USAFE team defeated Luftwaffe in the women’s final but USAFE were beaten by Poland in the Men’s final.  Read more about the Ramstein Tennis Tournament 

The Great Britain Deaf Tennis Team were nominated for Team of the Year in the Deaf Sports Personality of the Year Awards 2012, while Bethany Brookes was also been nominated for Young Player of the Year. Find out more here

November

Heather Watson and Laura Robson were jointly named Young Sportswomen of the Year Award at the 2012 Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year Awards. Find out more about the awards here

British No.1 Andy Murray was jointly named Scottish Sportsperson of the year with Sir Chris Hoy at the Commonwealth Games Awards dinner in Glasgow. 14 year-old Maia Lumsden was named the Most Improved Junior Sportsperson.

Colin Bennett was named Veterans’ Player of the Year for 2012 by Seniors Tennis GB. Read about Colin’s superb 2012 on the Seniors Tennis GB site  

Jonny Marray reached his first Masters 1000 semi-final in Paris with Australian partner Paul Hanley. The unseeded duo upset the Bryans in the second round before falling to eventual winners Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna.

The British Tennis Awards recognising the tennis volunteer network took place at the O2 arena.  Find details of the winners here

British No.1 Andy Murray reached the semi-finals at the O2 where the US Open Champion was denied a place in the final by Roger Federer.

In the doubles event Wimbledon Champions Jonny Marray and Freddie Nielsen scored two nail biting victories to win Group B before falling to eventual champions Marcel Grannollers and Marc Lopez in the last four.  Find full coverage of the tournament here

As the event enjoyed record breaking attendance figures the ATP announced the tournament would stay in London until 2015

LTA Mini Tennis was showcased in the Fan Zone at the O2.  Read more here and watch a day in the life of the Mini Tennis team here

The LTA and Tennis Foundation donated £200 worth of Schools Tennis equipment to London schools for every ace served at the championships.  Jonny Marray took Curwen Primary School in Plaistow their new equipment

Samantha Murray reached the semi-finals of the $75K ITF event at Toyota, Japan while Neil Paufley won the $10K ITF Futures event in Opava, Czech Republic and Alex Ward won the singles title in Phuket, Thailand.

Bolton Arena hosted the National Finals of the Aegon Team Tennis Schools Year 8&10 competition as eight months of hotly contested competition came to a climax.

Talbot Heath Schools won both the Year 8 & 10 Girls titles while the Year 8 Boy’s title went to Reed’s School and Millfield School took the Year 10 Boy’s title.  Read a full review of the Finals from Bolton here

The National Tennis Centre played host to the European Collegiate Tennis Association Finals 2012 (ECTA) where Loughborough University defeated the German Sports University of Cologne in the final. Read more about the Finals here

Hertfordshire successfully defended their Men’s and Women’s titles at the Aegon Winter County Cup to become the first team for 41 years to win both titles in both summer and winter competitions. Find out more here

Andrew Lapthorne was runner-up at the NEC Singles Masters at Mechelen, Belgium while Gordon Reid was a finalist at the prestigious Invacare Doubles Masters in Amsterdam. Check out details of Gordon’s run to the final here  

December

Laura Robson won the WTA Newcomer of the Year award from the Women’s Tennis Association while Heather Watson was also nominated.

Andy Murray came third at the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards while Kyle Edmund was shortlisted for the junior award. 

Team GB and Paralympic GB – including the stars of the London 2012 Tennis and Paralympic Tennis events – took home the team prize. Find more details of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards here

Jenni Bull reached the final three in the East Midlands final of the BBC Sports Personality Unsung Hero competition for her work at Ashbourne Tennis Club. Read about Jenni her work at Ashbourne here

The Royal Albert Hall hosted the Statoil Masters Tennis where former British No.1 Tim Henman was runner-up to France’s Fabrice Santoro in the ATP Champions Tour final.

Katy Dunne reached the doubles semi-finals of the ITF Grade A Orange Bowl in Florida, alongside American partner Christina Makarova, while Jay Clarke was runner-up in the 14&U Boy’s singles at the 2012 Nike Junior Tour International Masters at Port St Lucie, USA.    

Harriet Dart and Josh Goodall were victorious at the Aegon British Tour Masters held at the Nottingham Tennis Centre. Watch interviews with the winners here

The Tennis Foundation Wheelchair Tennis Development Series was won by Steve Crompton and Helen Bond after competing in tournaments during 2012.  Find out more here