The holiday season is fully underway and while many of you will be embracing the winter conditions to #WeatherTheCourt, most of the Brits are back on home soil and training hard ahead of 2021.
The British wheelchair stars however, won’t have to wait until next year to compete again, as they gear up for the LTA’s Wheelchair Team Battle starting next week.
Meanwhile, we catch up with the few Brits hoping to end the year on a high as they continue to battle it out on the ITF circuit – including, Heather Watson, Jodie Burrage and Paul Jubb.
Where are the Brits this week?
As the season winds down to an end for many of the world’s tennis stars in December, there are a few Brits who are still looking to get that extra tournament under their belt and build valuable momentum going into next year.
Two of Great Britain’s brightest players, Watson and Burrage, have jetted off to the sunny sands of Dubai to compete in the W100+H Dubai singles and doubles tournaments. Watson returns to competitive action for the first time since Roland Garros back in September, coming in as the third seed in the singles and will also play in the doubles alongside Anna Blinkova of Russia.
Burrage on the other hand came into the tournament as a wildcard and faced Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove - a player ranked 86 places higher than her in the world - in the opening round. The Brit was beaten 6-4, 6-2.
Over in Turkey, Jubb is back in action as he competes in the M15 Antalya in his first match for several months. Jubb will take on fifth seed Ivan Nedelko in his first round match today. Billy Harris has also qualified for the main draw and will face number one seed Cem Ilkel.
Brits Max Andrews and Emily Lindh are also set to compete in ITF events in Spain this week. Andrews will play in the M15 Torello, whilst Lindh is at the W15 Madrid.
Many of Britain’s top wheelchair stars are in training at the National Tennis Centre this week as they gear up for the Wheelchair Team Battle event next week. The competition will see two teams go head-to-head in a series of singles and doubles match-ups to be crowned champions. Fans will be able to watch and follow all the match action across the LTA’s social channels and website - where it will be live streamed.
Photo of the week
Not a bad place to close out your season... we’re all cheering you on from home Heather!
Posts of the week
A brilliant moment for British tennis fans last week, as former Wimbledon Girls champion and Olympics mixed doubles silver medallist, Laura Robson returned to court.
Andy Lapthorne and Jamie Murray were back hitting together in practice – any guesses which football team Andy supports?
Katie Boulter throws it back to her junior days
Cute dog content alert – Harriet Dart’s been enjoying some much deserved downtime out walking the dogs
Jodie is well and truly living the dream out in Dubai
And Jamie’s enjoying the wonderful lights at Kew Gardens as he gets into the festive spirit