Freya Christie & Eden Silva secure British doubles title at Lexus British Pro Series Roehampton
• 3 minute read
British doubles duo Eden Silva and Freya Christie triumphed in the London sunshine to claim the women’s doubles title at the Lexus British Pro Series Roehampton at the National Tennis Centre.
With both players’ last doubles titles coming in 2024, the pair came into the competition as the third seeds with a good chance of breaking that duck. The pair had to fight through back to back three set matches on their way to setting up a final clash against top seeds Emily Appleton and Slovakia’s Viktoria Hruncakova.
It looked as though the number one seeds would live up to their billing as favourites, as Appleton and Hruncakova raced into a 4-1 lead in the first set. However, Christie and Silva fought back to get back on serve, and went on to win the first set via a tie-break.
The top seeds went on to level the contest by taking the second before Christie and Silva went on to seal a 7-6(7) 3-6 10-6 win and etch their names on the trophy.
After the match, Freya said, “It feels great. We've played a few tournaments together now, and haven't quite got the win yet, so it’s our first win together. This one feels really special, and especially being at home as well - it’s that extra cherry on top.”
Eden spoke of the impact of playing at home, adding, “Having our best friends, watching as well is always really nice, because a lot of the time we're traveling and we're on our own; we don't really have a whole load of support on the road, so it is nice to have that, and I think that definitely did help us get over the line.”
In the women’s singles, Czechia’s 18-year-old rising star Vendula Valdmannova claimed the biggest title to date of her young career, as doubles finalist Viktoria Hruncakova had to retire midway through the first set due to illness. Alicia Dudeney notched the best run of the Brits competing in the singles draw - reaching the quarter-finals before losing out 6-3 2-6 7-6(2) to Hruncakova.
Valdmannova spoke of her relief after claiming the title, saying, “It's not easy to win every match. Everyone's playing good in this level. And it's also not easy when you're the favourite player to win all the time until the finals. So it was tough for my head.”
Vendula Valdmannova claimed her biggest pro singles title to date in Roehampton (Credit: Mark Lawrence for LTA)
LTA Tournament Director Lauren Beech said, “We’ve had a fantastic week of tennis here at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, with a week of sunshine to go with it. We were blessed with fantastic action all tournament, with good crowds coming down for our doubles and singles finals. Congratulations to our winners - Vendula in the singles, Freya and Eden in the doubles – on their performances throughout the tournament.”
International tournaments such as the Lexus British Pro Series Roehampton are part of the LTA’s Performance Competitions Calendar (PCC) which provides significantly enhanced opportunities for British players at each age and stage of the performance player pathway on home soil. The calendar is designed to provide comprehensive opportunities for British players to play, earn ranking points and win prize money at home, throughout the year.
The ITF action heads to Nottingham this week for the first of back-to-back men’s M25 and women’s W35 action at the Lexus Nottingham Tennis Centre, the start of a big summer of tennis in the East Midlands.
