British Tennis Round-up: Edmund’s sensational Australian Open run continues to semi-finals
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Australia
Kyle Edmund’s sensational Australian Open run continued to the semi-finals as he became the sixth British male to reach the final four of a Grand Slam in the Open Era.
After reaching his first Grand Slam quarter-final, the British No.2 faced third seed Grigor Dimitrov and maintained his brilliant form to capture a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
He went onto play sixth seed Marin Cilic in the semi-final where he made his debut appearance on Rod Laver Arena, but his journey came to an end after falling 6-2, 7-6(4), 6-2.
His heroics throughout the fortnight see him shoot up 23 ranking spots to a new career-high of world No.23.
In doubles, Dom Inglot reached the quarter-finals with New Zealander Marcus Daniell. The pair sailed past Andrei Vasilevski and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo 6-4, 6-3 to reach the final eight, but were denied a spot in the semis after falling in a tantalisingly close three-set battle to seventh seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic.
17-year-old Aidan McHugh also enjoyed a fantastic run in the boys’ singles. A 6-4, 6-2 victory over Australia’s Rinky Hijikata set up a semi-final appearance and also made him Britain’s first junior male to reach the final four of a Grand Slam in nearly five years since Kyle Edmund in Wimbledon 2013.
There was more success for Britain’s wheelchair tennis stars as Gordon Reid, Alfie Hewett and Andy Lapthorne finished finalists of their respective doubles tournaments.
Top seeds Reid and Hewett reached their fifth doubles final together after battling past Gustavo Fernandez and Shingo Kunieda 6-1, 4-6, [10-6], but missed out on the title after falling 6-4, 6-2 to French second seeds Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer.
Andy Lapthorne narrowly missed out on a fourth quad doubles title following a 6-0, 7-6(5), [10-6] defeat to Australian duo Dylan Alcott and Heath Davidson.
Other Brits in action
15-year-old Ruairi Logan was triumphant at the wheelchair tennis Junior Masters in Tarbes, France, with Belgian partner Jef Vandorpe. The pair faced South Africa’s Alwande Sikhosana and Mpho Mhlongo in Saturday’s final and prevailed 6-4, 6-2. Find out more with the Tennis Foundation's report.
Meanwhile, the Brits fared well in the U12 Winter Cup as the boys and girls teams qualified for February's finals.
The girls team, captained by Andy Barnes, of Hannah Read, Vlada Kozak and Sophya Devas, received a bye in the first round and then went onto defeat Ukraine. They fell to Poland but had done enough to secure their place in Sunderland's final next month.
The boys team, captained by Chris Peet, of Henry Trump, Viktor Frydrych and Jamie Diack, had solid wins over Croatia, Hungary and Italy. Their performance means they will be seeded heading into the finals in Veska, the Czech Republic.
On home soil
Maia Lumsden and Nicolas Rosenzweig won British Tour Stirling titles at the weekend, ahead of the GB Pro Series in Glasgow.
Top seed Lumsden sailed to victory with a 6-1, 6-3 defeat of Slovakian Ingrid Vojcinakova, who has recently arrived in Stirling as a postgraduate student at the University.
The men’s singles final saw Rosenzweig defeat Jacob Fearnley 6-0, 2-6, 6-1. 16-year old Fearnley from Edinburgh was appearing in his first British Tour final, while the final marked Stirling University Assistant Coach Rosenzweig’s second of 2018.
Discover a full breakdown of draws and results and find out more about the British Tour.
Photo of the week
Kyle Edmund made his maiden appearance on Rod Laver Arena...
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A huge congratulations to Alfie Hewett who became world No.1 for the first time! It looks like he has a few words of his own…
