Crowd favourite Frank Dancevic won the men’s singles title at The Surbiton Trophy on Sunday in an epic three set battle against Kevin Anderson.
Having lost the first set to the big serving South African, Dancevic fought back to record a 4-6 6-3 7-6(4) victory. The sell-out crowd enjoyed every minute of an enthralling contest which saw the 23 year-old Canadian finally overcome Anderson’s powerful game in a nail biting third set tie-break.
Dancevic, ranked No 111 in the world, has been a popular figure in Surbiton since his debut in 2004 when he defeated Greg Rusedski. After the final, the Niagara Falls native demonstrated why he is a much loved character at The Surbiton Trophy by staying on court for a further 30 minutes to hit with a group of young club players.
Dancevic follows in the footsteps of Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 2008 Australian Open runner-up, who was victorious on the Surbiton Racket & Fitness Club’s grass courts last year. The right-hander will be hoping to build on this success when he travels to Wimbledon in a fortnight for The Championships.
In the men’s doubles final, Frenchmen Arnaud Clement and Edouard Roger-Vasselin defeated Israeli Harel Levy and American Jim Thomas 7-6(4) 6-7(3) [10-7]. On Saturday, Marina Erakovic saw off the British No 1, Anne Keothavong, 6-4 6-2 to lift the women’s singles trophy while the doubles title was won by the American No 3 seeds, Julie Ditty and Abigail Spears.
Peter Greatorex, The Surbiton Trophy Tournament Director, said: “It has been a fantastic week in Surbiton with some great tennis being played. I’m delighted for Frank [Dancevic] and Marina [Erakovic] who both fully deserved their titles. I won’t be at all surprised if the players who performed well in Surbiton are winning matches at The Championships in a couple of weeks.”
The Surbiton Trophy took place between Saturday 31st May and Sunday 8th June at the Surbiton Racket & Fitness Club.