Mimi Xu, Amarni Banks, Ranah Stoiber & Emily Appleton receive main draw wild cards for Lexus Ilkley Open

The Lexus Ilkley Open – a WTA 125 and ATP Challenger 125 combined event – gets underway from Monday 9 to Sunday 15 June.

The tournament brings together some of the world’s best emerging talents, British stars and other household names for a week of grass court tennis in West Yorkshire.

Britain’s Harriet Dart and reigning champion Rebecca Marino are already compared for the women’s tournament, while Billy Harris is set to feature on the men’s side.

17-year-old Xu has been one of the stars of the grass court season so far – reaching the quarter-finals of the Lexus Birmingham Open in only her first WTA 125 event with a win over world No.52 Alycia Parks.

Xu is a three-time Lexus Junior National Championships winner, a former junior US Open semi-finalist, a junior Wimbledon runner-up and the young Brit won her first professional title in Monastir at the end of last year.

Banks has shown impressive form over the last 12 months with a title at the W35 Nottingham as well as semi-final runs at the W75 events in Glasgow, Trnava and Le Neubourg amongst the highlights.

Banks and Xu are both supported by the LTA Pro Scholarship Programme presented by Lexus – the highest level of support for developing players aged 16-24.

20-year-old Stoiber heads to Ilkley off the back of winning her first ITF singles title at the W15 Estepona and has made two further semi-finals since April.

A former junior Australian Open semi-finalist and quarter-finalist at Wimbledon and the US Open, Stoiber is one of the brightest young talents in the British game.

Appleton – the most experienced of the quartet – got her first WTA match win on the grass at Nottingham last year and is currently ranked inside the WTA top 100 in doubles.

The 25-year-old has reached three singles finals this season, winning one title at the W15 Trois-Rivieres.

Men's wild cards announced

The men's wild cards for the Lexus Ilkley Open have also been announced recently with more Brits set to compete in the main draw.

2023 Junior Wimbledon champion Henry Searle is set to compete in West Yorkshire, alongside Jay Clarke and Jack Pinnington Jones.

Searle will be playing his first grass court event of the year, while Clarke and Pinnington Jones head to Ilkley off the back of playing in Birmingham last week.