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Lexus Surbiton Trophy

Surbiton Racket & Fitness Club 02 - 09 June 2024

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Paul Jubb smiles and gives a thumbs up to the cameras after a first round with at Lexus Surbiton Trophy
International

Lexus Surbiton Trophy 2024: Paul Jubb, Naiktha Bains & Katy Dunne seal landmark wins in opening round

• 3 MINUTE READ

Tuesday was all about the Brits at the Lexus Surbiton Trophy with Paul Jubb and Naiktha Bains both sealing the biggest wins of their careers, while wild card Katy Dunne made an impressive comeback on the grass.

They all join fellow Brit Billy Harris in the second round at the Lexus Surbiton Trophy, after he beat ATP Next Gen star Juncheng shang 6-3, 7-6(8).

24-year-old Jubb had to battle both rising star Alex Michelsen, from the States, and the conditions, to come through 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.

After missing most of 2023 through injury, Jubb has dropped outside the world’s top 300, but reminded everyone why two years ago he took Nick Kyrgios to the brink in the first round of Wimbledon – the same year the Australian went all the way to the final. That loss still sticks with him and has left Jubb with unfinished business at SW19.

“To beat the top seed in any tournament is always a big confidence-booster,” said Jubb, who is on our Pro Scholarship Programme presented by Lexus, the highest level of support for developing players aged 16-24, designed to help them crack the Top 100.

“It’s only the first round but for the start of the grass court season, it’s great to take that and start building. I feel like I’m in a good position physically and mentally, so I want to keep insisting on that.

“For me, I have had Wimbledon written on my bathroom sink for the past year and a half. That has been one of my goals to put myself with a chance to maybe have an opportunity to play it, whether that is back on ranking or a potential wild card.

“I’m a competitor and I want to win. So even though Wimbledon is such a prestigious tournament and I’ve played there, I want to win, so I’m not happy about the fact I haven’t won there yet. That’s a big aspiration for me and one of my lifelong goals is to be able to win a match at Wimbledon.”

Jubb will play Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin in the next round.

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Bains, 26, had faced and lost to former Wimbledon quarter-finalist Viktorija Golubic twice before, but in front of a big crowd on Centre Court in Surbiton, she produced arguably her best performance since returning from a fractured rib, winning 6-2 7-5.

Having come through qualifying, it was a huge result for the British star, taking down the third seed, and she was understandably thrilled at the result.

She said: “I’m definitely happy to have won my first round. I don’t think I’ve done that here to be honest. And playing against Viktorija, we’ve played three times now and I guess we can say third time lucky.

“I really love playing her on grass, it’s a really fun match, both of us love it. It’s fun tennis out there.”

I loved playing out there. Any home crowd is just the best, it makes me feel better.

This was another step up in terms of crowd size however, and having spent four months unable to do any training whatsoever as she recovered from the rib issue, she made sure to take it all in.

She added: “I love it. I think it helps me; I loved playing out there. Any home crowd is just the best, it makes me feel better.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been in the main draw of one of these with my ranking dropping. Hopefully it helps me to get back to where I was before the injury.”

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29-year-old Dunne has been out of action with a shoulder injury but hit the ground running on her return, getting the better of Canada’s Carol Zhao in the first round in Surbiton.

The Briton won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, and was ecstatic at the quality of the performance in front of the Centre Court crowd.

She said: “It was good to be back out. I had to take two months out with shoulder injections. That was my first match back, so it is a very nervy feeling when you haven’t had any matches under your belt. But I love playing in front of people so I was happy when I got Centre Court. I just had to fight with myself to play a positive style of tennis. It can be tough when you don’t have that match practice.

“It was a reoccurrence of an inflammation in my bursa and my AC joint, I had to have an injection in both. It was not ideal timing because I was playing good tennis and winning matches. I felt like I could steadily climb up the rankings.”

Dunne has enjoyed success at Surbiton in the past, including reaching the quarter-finals in 2019 before losing to eventual champion Alison Riske from the USA.

She added: “My old coach messaged me yesterday saying you love a bit of Surbiton. You always dig it out there and get a couple of wins!

“I felt fully fit, ready to go, it was just more getting through the nerves. I’m pretty proud of myself for how I dealt with it.”

In round two, Bains is set to play Australian Olivia Gadecki, while Dunne will play the winner of Harmony Tan vs Kayla Day.

The three British victories were the standouts on a day that was cut short due to persistent rain in the afternoon. Dan Evans, Kyle Edmund and Sarah Beth Grey will have to return tomorrow to play their first round matches.

This article was co-written with Paul Eddison at Sportsbeat.

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