Top seed and world No.4 Lapthorne, contesting his sixth British Open final since 2014, earned a crucial break at the start of the match, which he backed up with some impressive service games, twice holding to love in the fourth and eighth games. He wrapped up the opening set with successive forehands, the second of which drew the decisive error from Davidson’s racket.   

"After losing here five times in the final, that was needed. It’s just amazing to win here, I know what it’s like to lose here,” said Lapthorne, who had lost three of his previous four matches against Davidson.

”I’ve lost finals from match point up and I’ve obviously lost to Heath in the last two tournaments. He’s been playing great tennis so congratulations on a great summer mate, you’ve done great things." 

Lapthorne’s brand of aggressive high percentage tennis earned him a double break at the start of the second set and although Davidson earned his first break of the match for 3-1 , Lapthorne’s third love service hold kept him well in command at 4-2. The end came after 90 minutes and one of the rallies of the match, Davidson sending a backhand into the net that brought a huge outpouring of emotion from Lapthorne. 

After his landmark win, Lapthorne revealed the extra motivation behind his accomplishment. 

"I knew I was going to have to play well out here today. One of my great friends from home, Pistol Pete (Moore), who used to play here a lot, he’s not great at home at the moment and just tried to use that to inspire me and push me on and, yeah, he got me through,” said Lapthorne.

“Thanks to everyone for the support in the crowd this week, you’ve been amazing. For an ITF 1, this is probably the best in the world, so thank you to everyone for coming."