RECAP
Best moments in British tennis - February 2024
In a new series exclusive for Advantage members, we’ll be giving you an update on everything going on in British tennis. This month, re-live all the amazing British successes on the tours, new facilities in Scotland and celebrate LGBT+ History Month.
17 titles for the Brits
February has proven a successful month for the British stars competing across the world on the ATP, WTA and ITF tours – bringing home 17 pro titles.
Jamie Murray and partner Michael Venus captured their first title of the season in Qatar. The British-Kiwi partnership only dropped one set all week having come into the tournament without a win so far this year.
Staying with doubles, Julian Cash ticked off a new milestone as he won his first ATP title alongside American Robert Galloway at Delray Beach. The pair fought off Neal Skupski and Santiago Gonzalez in the final 5-7, 7-5, 10-2.
Lily Miyazaki also picked up the biggest title of her career this month competing at the W75 Andrezieux-Boutheon.
Emily Appleton and Freya Christie came out on top in an all-British final against Sarah Beth Grey and Eden Silva at the W75 Grenoble, Jay Clarke won a singles and doubles title in the M25 Hammamet event series, and Amarni Banks lifted her first title at the W35 Traralgon.
In wheelchair tennis, Alfie Hewett continued his domination at the ABN AMRO Open by winning his fifth singles title. He beat Joachim Gerard 6-2, 6-3 in the final.
Special mentions as well to Heather Watson, who finished runner-up in the doubles at Abu Dhabi; Harriet Dart on her first WTA semi-final at the Transylvania Open; and Jodie Burrage for a quarter-final run in Linz.
Success on home soil
Much of February’s success came at tournaments on home soil as part of our Performance Competitions Calendar.
We hosted two ATP Challenger events in Glasgow and Nottingham, with British stars picking up strong results in both. Paul Jubb finished as runner-up at the Lexus Glasgow Challenger to France’s Clement Chidekh, while Marcus Willis and Scott Duncan captured the doubles crown against Kyle Edmund and Henry Searle.
Meanwhile, Josh Paris and Antoine Escoffier had to settle for the runners-up spot at the Lexus Nottingham Challenger.
Alongside these were two W50 events in Roehampton and Edgbaston, with an impressive array of British talent on display. Christie and Sam Murray Sharan won the doubles trophy in Roehampton, while Watson came runner-up in the singles.
Over at the Edgbaston Priory Club, Miyazaki and Ali Collins lost out in the doubles final as well.
There were four British title-winners at the ITF 2 and ITF 3 wheelchair events in Bolton. Andy Lapthorne won both the quad singles and doubles tournaments in the ITF 2 event.
His doubles partner Greg Slade was the star of the week – adding this title to the singles and doubles trophy he’d already won in the ITF 3.
Meanwhile, Lucy Shuker and Cornelia Oosthuizen bagged their first doubles title together as an all-British duo.
500 hard court wins for Andy Murray
500 hard court wins is some achievement – but for former world No.1 and three-time major champion Andy Murray, it’s just another incredible milestone.
The Briton beat Denis Shapovalov in Dubai 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 to clinch win No.500 and become only the fifth man in the history of the game to do so.
He only trails Rafael Nadal (517), Andre Agassi (592), Novak Djokovic (700) and Roger Federer (783) on the all-time list.
New indoor tennis centre in Scotland
Scotland has a brand new indoor tennis facility opened in Edinburgh this month – the Oriam Indoor Tennis Centre.
Work began on the Indoor Tennis Centre (ITC) in September 2022 and doors were opened to the public in December last year. It has been funded in partnership between Oriam, Heriot-Watt University, the LTA, LTA Tennis Foundation, sportscotland and Tennis Scotland through the Transforming Scottish Indoor Tennis (TSIT) fund.
The centre will give a huge boost to the local community in the Scottish capital and will help open tennis up to more people in the area.
Supporting young people’s mental health through tennis
Sport in Mind, one of the LTA Tennis Foundation’s charity partners, are leading in the way in utilising this to improve the lives of individuals living with poor mental health.
With the latest statistics showing that 50% of mental health problems start before the age of 14, the charity have launched a youth programme with tennis sessions targeted at young people experiencing mental health challenges.
The children will get to play and enjoy the physical benefits of tennis as well as learning key life skills to help them better manage and understand their emotions and mental wellbeing.
LGBT+ History Month: Lesbian role models in tennis
During LGBT+ History Month, we’ve sought to shine a light on trailblazing role models from within our game – both past and present.
Meet May ‘Toupie’ Lowther and Emma Wells – two inspiring individuals separated by a century who have shown how sexuality and gender should never be seen as a barrier to exceptional achievement.
Toupie – a former Wimbledon champion in the 1890s and 1900s – is thought to be the first openly lesbian sportswoman, while Emma is a tennis coach in Wimbledon Park looking to use her own experiences to make the sport more inclusive for her community.