Crawford and McDonald clinch singles titles while British doubles stars shine on the ITF tour
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While last week saw Britain’s Henry Patten, Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid all take home the silverware at The Championships, Wimbledon, there was plenty more title success from our British tennis players competing across the globe on the ITF tour.
Catch up with all of the latest news from the last week of British tennis.
Bass and Hudd claim titles on home soil
Last week saw British duo Finn Bass and Emile Hudd team up for the M25 Nottingham doubles draw, where they embarked on a dominant run on British turf.
Bass and Hudd defeated three all-British pairings and didn’t drop a single set on their journey to the silverware at the Lexus Nottingham Tennis Centre. In the final, they faced compatriots William Nolan and Jack Pinnington Jones – rounding off an impressive performance with a 6-3, 6-3 win.
Over in Monastir, Tunisia, doubles delight also came for brothers Billy Blaydes and Freddy Blaydes who earned their first professional title at the M15 event. The pair capped off a dream week by clinching a 7-5, 6-0 victory over Marrakech’s Mehdi Benchakroun and Hamza El Amine to earn a career-first ITF trophy.
Crawford earns first title of the year
25-year-old Oliver Crawford picked up his first title of the year on the clay courts at M25 The Hague. Crawford – who switched nationalities from the USA to Great Britain at the beginning of the year – wrapped his hands around an 11th ITF crown at the event in the Netherlands following a remarkable week.
The Brit battled through two three-set matches en route to the final where he dispatched Spain’s Alex Marti Pujolras with ease – sealing a 6-0, 6-1 win. Crawford will now be hoping to carry his title-winning form to the M25 Gandia, where he’s competing this week.
Meanwhile, the ITF tour also welcomed doubles wins for Anton Matusevich and Johannus Monday, who both picked up trophies at two separate events.
Matusevich joined forces with Germany’s Kai Wehnelt for the M25 Kassel to earn his second trophy of the year. The duo dominated across the week, before edging Germany’s David Fix and Lasse Poertner in the match-deciding tie-break, 6-4, 2-6, 10-5 to etch their names on the trophy.
Over in Dallas, Monday teamed up with Japan’s Shunsuke Mitsui, with the pair sprinting to the silverware without dropping a set. In the championship match, Monday and Mitsui came out on top against all-American duo Alexander Kotzen and Tristan McCormick 6-4, 6-4 – marking the Brit’s first title of the 2024 season.
Mcdonald and Maloney claim crowns at W15 events
Ella McDonald stunned in France as she rallied to win her second pro-level singles title at the W15 Bissy-Chambery. The 18-year-old was a dominant force across the week and closed out the tournament with a flawless 6-0, 6-1 performance against Ekaterina Ovcharenko. Mcdonald now adds this trophy to the one she picked up at the W15 Monastir earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Eliz Maloney rallied to win the third ITF title of her career and first since 2022 when she teamed up with the Czech Republic’s Aneta Laboutkova at the W15 Grodzisk Mazowiecki. The British, Czech pair came through a tough final match against Annemarie Lazar and Aleksandra Julia Zuchanska to eventually lift the title, 6-1, 3-6, 10-3.
Slade continues impressive doubles form
Wheelchair tennis star Greg Slade has continued to impress in the doubles game, with the youngster picking up his fifth title of the year al the 34th German Open alongisde Tomas Masaryk.
This victory marked the Brit's second trophy with the Slovakian, after they took home the trophy at the Bolton Indoor ITF 3 earlier this year. Competing on the clay courts in Germany, the second seeds edged a tight three-set semi-final battle against Chile's Francisco Cayulef and Argentina's Gonzalo Enrique Lazarte before defeating top seeds Leandro Pena and Ymanitu Silva 7-6(4), 6-4 in the final.
