The semi-finals of the $15k AEGON Pro-Series Men’s singles in Cardiff were played today with British interest in both ties.
Marcus Willis and Dan Evans both suffered defeat in their clashes with Yannick Mertens (BEL) and Henri Kontinen (FIN) respectively.
Willis, conqueror of the tournament No.3 seed Uladzimir Ignatik (BLR) earlier in the week, lost in a close match with No.2 seed Mertens.
Having gone a break down in the second game of the first set, Willis was unable to recover as the set went with serve, 3-6. In the second set, Mertens broke serve in the first game and held serve in the second game before the Briton raced back into a 3-2 lead.
However the No.2 seed fought back to break back and eventually win the set 6-4 and the match 6-3, 6-4.
There was also disappointment in the other semi-final as Evans was unable to overcome Kontinen. After impressing throughout the week, only conceding one set en route to the semi-final, the British No.5 was defeated 1-6, 0-6.
Meanwhile in the doubles event, the British pairing of Alexander Slabinsky and Tim Bradshaw were defeated 6-4 7-6(3) in a close match with the Irish pair of James McGee and Barry King.
In a final clash between the tournament No.2 and 3 seeds, it was McGee and King who prevailed after an impressive recent period for the British pairing which has seen them reach the final in Cardiff and the semi-finals at the $15k event in Glasgow.
Lucy Brown has defeated the tournament No.1 seed Miyabi Inoue (JPN) 7-5, 7-5 to reach the final of the Grade 2 Junior Championships Girls’ singles in Nanthaburi, Thailand. The 16 year-old will now meet Haochen Tang (CHN) in the final.