Liam Hignett and Rosie Cho win Scottish National Open Championships titles
• 4 minute read
Liam Hignett and Rosie Cho made history as they won the Scottish National Open Championships for the first time after a fantastic weekend of tennis at the University of Stirling.
The final event of the TS Open Tour singles calendar 2026 saw 28 men and 28 women take to the courts with a prize pot of £7600 and vital leaderboard points up for grabs as players made a final attempt to qualify for the season-ending Tour Finals. In addition, the event was also part of the Lexus British Tour, with Grade One ranking points available.
Former University of Stirling scholar Hignett, who arrived fresh from reaching a semi-final on the World Tennis Tour, entered the event as third seed and, after receiving a bye into the last 16, opened his campaign with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 victory over East of Scotland’s Arsenii Opryshko.
26-year-old Hignett then faced former TS Open Tour champion Nicolas Rosenzweig from St Andrews Tennis Club in the quarter-finals and found his best form, coming through with a decisive 6-1, 6-3 victory. That set up a highly anticipated semi-final with defending champion and leaderboard pacesetter Cameron Fryer, with the match coming down to a 10-point breaker.
North of Scotland’s Fryer, a recent winner on the World Tennis Tour doubles circuit, recovered impressively in the second set, taking it 6-0 after losing the first 1-6. Hignett, though, managed to rediscover his form in the decider, winning 10-6 to seal his place in the final.
That secured a meeting with Belfast’s Dylan Leeman after he came through an epic semi-final with University of Edinburgh’s Jed Alexander, turning around an early deficit to win 3-6, 6-4, 10-4. Hignett was not to be denied in the final and once again turned up the heat to win 6-2, 6-1 and seal an impressive victory and his second title of the Tour season following a win at the Whitecraigs Easter Championships.
Cho brings international form to Stirling
In the women’s event, 16-year-old Rosie Cho won her first TS Open Tour title, just a week after qualifying for the Lexus British Pro-Series Glasgow on the World Tennis Tour at Scotstoun.
Surrey’s Cho entered as second seed, which meant she began her campaign in the second round, and carved her way through the draw, defeating Yorkshire’s Bethany Pratt 6-2, 6-2, before securing a place in the semis by beating TS Open Tour leader Aadya Iyer Chadalawada 6-2, 6-3.
Her last four encounter against seventh seed Awen Gwilym-Davies from Wales also saw a convincing victory as Cho came through 6-0, 6-1 to set up a final against the top seed Lara Savic from Northumberland after she secured her place with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Surrey’s Samantha Haslett.
The final proved to be a tough battle for both players, but it was Cho left celebrating at the end as she fought back from a set down to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
What’s next?
The Tour now moves onto Scotstoun in Glasgow for the Scottish National Open Doubles Championships from 13-15 November, before a return to singles action in December at the TS Open Tour Finals from 14-15 December.
What is the TS Open Tour?
The TS Open Tour is nationwide circuit allowing men’s and women’s players to compete for prize money on home soil, with significant funding coming from much-appreciated sponsorship. Events include young players with ambitions of competing professionally and internationally as well as national-level and club players.
Scottish players to have competed on the Tour and achieved on the international stage include Maia Lumsden, Jacob Fearnley, Hamish Stewart, Scott Duncan and Ewen Lumsden.
During 13 TS Open Tour events each year, players climb up and down a leaderboard as they are awarded ranking points based on their performances. The men’s and women’s players who end the year with the most ranking points are crowned the leaderboard champions.
The 15 players from each leaderboard qualify for the TS Open Tour Finals, a ‘masters’-style two-day event held at the end of the year. An additional player qualifies from our UTR Pro Tennis Tour leaderboards - compiled from results across the four UTR events held in Scotland.
The Tour was created by Tennis Scotland in partnership with clubs, organisers and other partners as a national structure of competition for yellow-ball players, creating opportunities for all levels of play. By also hosting workshops and development competitions, many Tour events also provide opportunities for tennis coaches and junior players to develop their skills.
