Fearnley wins in Rennes, Lumsden claims Tunisia double, Scots succeed in Virtus Championships
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A week full of success for Scots as players picked up big titles around the world while juniors represented their counties.
Jacob Fearnley continued his meteoric rise through the ATP rankings in Rennes, France, where he took his third ATP Challenger title of the season.
He opened his account with a statement win over former world number 18 Benoit Paire, beating the Frenchman 6-1 6-0 in just 37 minutes.
Despite a slower start in the second round against Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg, Fearnley recovered from a set down to win 1-6 6-2 6-4 and book a place in the quarter-final.
Next up was top seed and world number 46, Adrian Mannarino, who would be one of the toughest opponents Fearnley has faced. However, Jacob showed his quality as he dispatched Mannarino 6-3 6-3 to claim the highest ranked win of his career so far.
Fearnley continued his run in the semi-finals where he posted a straight-sets win over third seed Harold Mayot 6-4 6-2 to progress to his third ATP Challenger final this season.
His final opponent, world number 98 Quentin Halys, was quick to cause Fearnley trouble as the Frenchman took the first set 6-0. However, the Scot showed resilience in the second to keep himself in the match, saving two match points at 5-6, 15-40.
Fearnley levelled the match, clinching the second set tie break 7-5 to force a third set. A break of serve at 4-3 meant that Fearnley would serve for the championship.
Six match points came and went for the Scot as Halys was determined to break back. On the seventh time of asking, an overhead winner sealed the title and saw Jacob claim back-to-back ATP Challenger titles.
Jacob is now 3-0 in Challenger finals and jumps 35 spots in the rankings to achieve a career-high of 129 in the world.
Lumsden wins maiden pro singles title
Ewen Lumsden was in the winners' circle twice in Monastir, Tunisia, where he claimed his first ITF pro singles title.
Lumsden got off to a strong start, upsetting sixth seed Maximus Jones 6-4 1-6 7-5. He opened his second round with a commanding first set before his opponent, Frederico Garbero, retired while Lumsden led the match 6-2 1-0.
Through to the quarter-finals, Lumsden continued his run by putting on a clinical performance to dispatch top seed Garret Johns 6-1 6-1.
The semi-finals saw Lumsden play Tiago Periera of Portugal in close battle. He clinched the first set in a tie-break before Pereira fought back to level the match. However, Lumsden held his nerve to see off the third seed 7-6(5) 4-6 7-5 and advance to the final.
Playing for his first title, Lumsden faced Karan Singh of India. A close first set went the way of the Scot and at 7-5 2-0 Singh retired from the match, allowing Ewen to lift his first pro singles title.
Additionally, Ewen teamed up with Frenchman, Etienne Donnet in the doubles. The pair opened with a straight-sets win over Alexandre Aubriot and Andrea Morlet 6-2 6-3 before receiving a walkover from their second-round opponents.
In the semi-finals they faced top seeds Diogo Marques and Tiago Pereira, upsetting the Portuguese duo 6-4 6-2 to advance to the final.
To round off a perfect tournament, Lumsden and Donnet bested third seeds Erik Arutiunian and Alexander Zgirovsky 7-5 7-6(3).
The win would constitute Ewen’s second doubles title as well as contributing to a week of unbeaten tennis in Tunisia.
Scots take home Virtus Games silverware
Three Scots featured in the 2024 Virtus World Tennis Championships in Annecy, France.
Virtus is the global governing body for athletes with an intellectual impairment, hosting a variety of world games and championships.
This year, Dominic Iannotti, Anna McBride and Aidan Moody were selected to represent Team GB, where they collected no shortage of medals after a successful week of tennis.
Anna McBride took home gold in the women’s singles whilst teaming up with fellow Scot Dominic Iannotti to win the mixed doubles. Anna also claimed bronze in the women’s doubles with partner Lily Mills.
In addition to his mixed doubles gold, Dominic clinched gold in the men’s doubles with Fabrice Higgins which also saw them win gold in the team category. On the singles court, Dominic played his way to a bronze medal.
Meanwhile, Adian Moody had a successful Championships as he teamed up with Oliver Beadle to achieve a bronze medal.
East of Scotland advance to County Cup Finals
The East of Scotland 12U County Cup teams were on winning form this weekend as both boys’ and girls’ teams enjoyed success.
In the Lancashire, East of Scotland Boys posted an unbeaten weekend. The team made up of Jack Fair, Arthur Mackinlay, Fraser Newcombe and Coby Stewart all contributed to wins over Essex, Leicestershire and Cheshire to advance to the National Finals in Nottingham.
The East of Scotland Girls team travelled to Lincolnshire where they played their way to topping Group 1A. Natalia Augustynska, Alexa Paton, Shanaaya Rastogi and Kana Saito were part of the team that secured wins over Durham & Cleveland and Nottingham.
The East narrowly lost in a shootout to Yorkshire, but it was enough to see them finish top of the group and join the boys in Nottingham for the National Finals.
