Grass court season review 2026: British success, new champions & epic finals
• 5 minute read
The 2026 grass court season has come to an end – and what a ride it’s been.
From Birmingham to Wimbledon, this summer, we’ve seen it all, British champions, emerging stars, familiar favourites, and more. It has been be a grass court summer to remember.
We look back at all the highlights, best moments, title winners and more from the 2026 grass court season.
Lexus Birmingham Open: Eala shines as Britain’s Fery & Stojsavljevic enjoy solid runs
The grass court season got off to an action-packed start at the Lexus Birmingham Open, with headlines across both the women’s and men’s draws.
Britain’s Mika Stojsavljevic showed her quality to make her first WTA 125 quarter-final at the age of 17 – backing up her performance at the Billie Jean King Cup.
However, the week was all about top seed Alexandra Eala. The Filipina eased her way into the final, where she defeated fifth seed Nikola Bartunkova 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 to claim the first grass court title of her career.
On the men’s side, Arthur Fery enjoyed a semi-final run in the ATP Challenger singles draw – only the start of a breakthrough summer for the now British No.1.
In the end, it was Yunchaokete Bu of China – the player who defeated Fery in the final four – who took home the trophy with a win over defending champion Otto Virtanen 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-3.
Champions:
- Women’s singles – Alexandra Eala (PHI)
- Men’s singles – Yunchaokete Bu (CHN)
- Women’s doubles – Talia Gibson (AUS) & Janice Tjen (INA)
- Men’s doubles – Ben Jones (GBR) & Josh Paris (GBR)
HSBC Championships WTA: Vekic, Raducanu & Boulter star in West London
The WTA 500 tournament at this year’s HSBC Championships was a blockbuster from start to finish – packed with fun storylines from start to finish.
Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu gave the British fans plenty to shout about. Boulter claimed the biggest win of her career over world No.2 Elena Rybakina before bowing out in the semi-final. At the same time, Raducanu went one further in reaching her first WTA 500 final.
After winning two matches on the Saturday, Raducanu faced lucky loser Donna Vekic in the final – losing out to the Croatian 6-0, 7-6(6).
For Vekic, it was her first title at WTA 500 level, and she became only the second Croatian champion, male or female at The Queen’s Club after Marin Cilic.
There was more British success in the women’s doubles, with Olivia Nicholls and Tereza Mihalikova claiming their second title on grass as a team.
Champions:
- Women’s singles – Donna Vekic (CRO)
- Women’s doubles – Olivia Nicholls (GBR) & Tereza Mihalikova (SVK)
Lexus Ilkley Open: Fearnley makes final & Krueger takes home women’s title
At the Lexus Ilkley Open, former Nottingham champion Jacob Fearnley returned to form with a run to his first final since 2024.
Fearnley came through three three-set matches to reach the final, before he eventually lost to Birmingham winner Bu – making it back-to-back titles for the Chinese star.
American Ashlyn Krueger emerged as the champion in the women’s singles after a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Celine Naef.
There were British winners in the women’s and men’s doubles. Freya Christie and Eden Silva won an all-British women’s doubles final against Madeline Brooks and Amelia Rajecki, while Marcus Willis and David Stevenson lifted silverware in the men’s doubles.
Champions:
- Women’s singles – Ashlyn Krueger (USA)
- Men’s singles – Yunchaokete Bu (CHN)
- Women’s doubles – Freya Christie (GBR) & Eden Silva (GBR)
- Men’s doubles – Marcus Willis (GBR) & David Stevenson (GBR)
HSBC Championships ATP: Cerundolo & Paul battle in historic final
The men’s event at The Queen’s Club was packed with surprises and upsets, all leading up to an historic final.
Fery made more progress, reaching his first ATP 500 quarter-final before once again losing to the eventual champion Francisco Cerundolo.
Cerundolo reached the final after spending over nine hours on court in his previous four matches, while 2024 winner Tommy Paul had breezed his way to the championship decider without dropping a set.
It was the Argentinian who came through to win what is now the longest final in Queen’s Club history 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3.
Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara finished runners-up to Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic in a doubles final that would be a preview for Wimbledon a few weeks later.
Champions:
- Men’s singles – Francisco Cerundolo (ARG)
- Men’s doubles – Marcelo Arevalo (SAL) & Mate Pavic (CRO)
Lexus Nottingham Open: Bouzkova & O’Connell crowned champions
Czech star Marie Bouzkova was crowned champion after an epic women’s singles final at the Lexus Nottingham Open.
The fourth seed overcame former world No.8 Emma Navarro 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-2 to claim her second WTA title of the season and career-first on grass.
Australian Christopher O’Connell came through a tough field in the men’s singles to seal the ATP Challenger title. He beat Virtanen in the Finn’s second final of the summer 7-6(3), 7-6(6).
Harriet Dart and Maia Lumsden won their first WTA title together – beating Shuko Aoyama and Hao-Ching Chan 6-4, 6-3 in the final.
Champions:
- Women’s singles – Marie Bouzkova (CZE)
- Men’s singles – Christopher O’Connell (AUS)
- Women’s doubles – Harriet Dart (GBR) & Maia Lumsden (GBR)
- Men’s doubles – Fernando Romboli (BRA) & Theodore Winegar (USA)
Lexus Eastbourne Open: Draper reaches semi-final & titles for Keys & Bergs
Madison Keys etched her name into the Eastbourne history books as one of only three women to win three or more titles – joining Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.
Keys defeated last year’s HSBC Championships winner Tatjana Maria 7-5, 6-4 to add to her trophies from 2014 and 2023.
One of the big stories from the Lexus Eastbourne Open was the return of Jack Draper from a long-term injury.
Draper didn’t need any time to get up to speed, reaching the semi-finals before losing out to Ugo Humbert of France.
It was Belgian Zizou Bergs who finished the week as champion. With the men’s final rained off on Saturday, they returned on the following day to complete the tournament – Bergs coming through with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win.
In the wheelchair draws, Gordon Reid beat Ben Bartram in the first all-British men’s wheelchair singles final on the south coast.
Champions:
- Women’s singles – Madison Keys (USA)
- Men’s singles – Zizou Bergs (BEL)
- Women’s doubles – Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN) & Luisa Stefani (BRA)
- Men’s doubles – Hugo Nys (MON) & Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)
- Women’s wheelchair singles – Diede De Groot (NED)
- Men’s wheelchair singles – Gordon Reid (GBR)
- Quad wheelchair singles – Jin Woodman (AUS)
- Women’s wheelchair doubles – Final cancelled due to rain
- Men’s wheelchair doubles – Tom Egberink (NED) & Maarten Ter Hofte (NED)
- Quad wheelchair doubles – Final cancelled due to rain
Lexus British Open Roehampton: Hewett & Reid win doubles as Oda, Wang & Sasson clinch singles trophies
The world’s best wheelchair tennis stars headed to south west London this summer for the Lexus British Open Roehampton WC 1000 event.
Alfie Hewett reached the men’s wheelchair singles final once again, but his title defence was denied by world No.1 Tokito Oda 6-3, 6-1.
Hewett and Reid did, however, secure yet another British Open men’s doubles title, edging past Martin De La Puente and Ruben Spaagaren 6-4, 4-6, 11-9.
Elsewhere, Ziying Wang was crowned women’s singles champion with a victory over the legendary Diede De Groot, and Israel’s Guy Sasson beat young Australian Jin Woodman in the quad singles final 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.
Britain’s Andy Lapthorne and Greg Slade also finished the week as quad doubles runners-up to Sasson and Niels Vink.
Champions:
- Women’s wheelchair singles – Ziying Wang (CHN)
- Men’s wheelchair singles – Tokito Oda (JPN)
- Quad wheelchair singles – Guy Sasson (ISR)
- Women’s wheelchair doubles – Ziying Wang (CHN) & Li Xiaohui (CHN)
- Men’s wheelchair doubles - Alfie Hewett (GBR) & Gordon Reid (GBR)
- Quad wheelchair doubles – Guy Sasson (ISR) & Niels Vink (NED)
Wimbledon: Wild card Fery makes final four & doubles titles
The Championships, Wimbledon saw a new British star come to the fore, as wild card Fery went on an unforgettable semi-final run.
Victories over Damir Dzumhur, Otto Virtanen, Zizou Bergs, Grigor Dimitrov and world No.10 Flavio Cobolli saw him become only the fifth British man and second wild card to reach the final four at Wimbledon.
Despite losing to second seed Alexander Zverev in the semis, it was a breakthrough week for the Brit who rose from world No.114 to 36 in just two weeks – becoming the new British No.1.
Jannik Sinner would go on to beat Zverev in the men’s singles final, while Linda Noskova defeated Czech compatriot Karolina Muchova in a classic of a women’s singles final.
2024 champions Patten and Heliovaara bagged their third Grand Slam together after winning a repeat of the HSBC Championships final in two tie-break sets.
There was more history for Hewett and Reid, winning their seventh Wimbledon men’s doubles title in their 10th successive final. However, Hewett was beaten by Oda once again in Sunday’s men’s wheelchair singles final.
Champions:
- Women’s singles – Linda Noskova (CZE)
- Men’s singles – Jannik Sinner (ITA)
- Women’s doubles - Guo Hanyu (CHN) & Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)
- Men’s doubles – Henry Patten (GBR) & Harri Heliovaara (FIN)
- Mixed doubles – Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) & Marcelo Arevalo (SAL)
- Women’s wheelchair singles – Yui Kamiji (JPN)
- Men’s wheelchair singles – Tokito Oda (JPN)
- Quad wheelchair singles – Niels Vink (NED)
- Women’s wheelchair doubles - Yui Kamiji (JPN) & Zhu Zhenzhen (CHN)
- Men’s wheelchair doubles – Alfie Hewett (GBR) & Gordon Reid (GBR)
- Quad wheelchair doubles - Guy Sasson (ISR) & Niels Vink (NED)
