Lexus Ilkley Open 2025: Britain’s rising stars leading the charge into the second round

British seeded players Harriet Dart and Billy Harris made confident starts to their campaigns with straight set victories in the opening round on Tuesday.

Dart knocked out fellow Brit Amelia Rajecki 6-4, 6-3 to progress to the second round, while third seed Harris put in a confident performance to see off Borna Gojo 6-2, 6-3.

Harris will meet Jack Pinnington Jones in the next round after the young Briton knocked out Mikail Kukushkin 6-2, 7-5 in his first grass court win of the season.

"I thought it was a good match for me - to get off to a smooth start,” said Harris – who made the semi-finals in Surbiton, Nottingham and Eastbourne last year.

“I served pretty good and I thought I got a little bit more confident as the match went on.

"It's great to play tournaments over here. In Great Britain you get the home support. It's a good atmosphere and it helps to get me over the line sometimes.” 

Pinnington Jones is back on the grass after another year competing in the NCAA for Texas Christian University again this year – the same college that both Cam Norrie and Jacob Fearnley attended.

"I'm really proud how I played the match overall,” he said. “I think I stuck to my game plan well and played a really good first set and then just a consistent second set - I raised my level when I really needed to".

"It's my first time up here - it's such a cool event - the fans seem really local and everyone seems to love being here. They get behind the home country players and I feel like I had that.”

That’s not to mention the British rising stars who also made winning starts in Ilkley on Monday – including teenagers Mimi Xu and Henry Searle, as well as 22-year-old Amarni Banks.

Xu, Searle and Banks are all supported by the LTA Pro Scholarship Programme, presented by Lexus – the highest level of support offered to developing players between the ages of 16 and 24 with the best chance of reaching the ATP/WTA top 100 singles.

17-year-old Xu made her first WTA 125 quarter-final in Birmingham last week and is continuing to grow and develop her game on the grass.

“I think what got me through was being able to adapt quickly and using the conditions to my advantage,” she said on Monday.

"I feel like I've been training really well and I'm really confident with my game, so I had a lot of confidence going into the match.”

She plays Banks in another all-British second round clash on Wednesday morning.

2023 Junior Wimbledon champion Searle also got his summer up and running with an impressive victory on Monday – his first of the grass court season so far.

“It was a great match - it's such a great atmosphere here and it was nice to play so well in front of a home crowd,” the young Brit said.

“Hopefully there will be a big crowd watching for my next match and I'm really looking forward to the next round".

Elsewhere, former NCAA No.1 Johannus Monday punched his ticket into the second round as well thanks to a 7-6(4), 6-3 win over Tristan Atmane, and Emily Appleton came back to beat Switzerland’s Simona Waltert 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 after poor light suspended their match yesterday.

"Obviously very happy with my performance - it went over two days, which is never easy and not something I'm particularly used to,” Appleton said after coming through a tough battle against the world No.128. “I felt I came out a different person today and played really well to take the win".

Appleton has drawn last year’s champion Rebecca Marino of Canada in the next round.

Finally, Oliver Crawford booked his place in the second round late in the day as he knocked out second seed and world No.106 Brandon Holt 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(5).

The British star came back from a break down in the final set to move into the next round where he'll face American Jenson Brooksby.