Sonay Kartal, Mimi Xu, Amelia Rajecki & Anton Matusevic crowned winners in Shrewsbury and Edgbaston
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What a week it's been for our British tennis stars who stole the show at the Lexus W100 Shrewsbury and Lexus GB Pro Series Edgbaston.
Sonay Kartal claimed her fifth title of the year on British soil, Mimi Xu and Amelia Rajecki were crowned doubles champions in Shrewsbury and 23-year-old Anton Matusevich took home the title at the M25 event in Edgbaston.
The Lexus W100 Shrewsbury is the biggest women’s tennis event in Britain outside of the grass court season and this year attracted a star-studded line-up of talent, including recently crowned Jasmin Open champion Kartal.
The 22-year-old led the all-British singles final against Heather Watson 7-5, 4-1, before Watson, who also enjoyed an impressive week in Shropshire, was forced to retire due to injury.
The British No.4 has now reached a career-high ranking of world No.92 as she continues to ascend the WTA rankings.
Reflecting on her achievements, Kartal said, "I’m leaving here super positive, and I’ve just gained even more confidence this week. I think that it’s a place for me and a club where I feel relaxed, and I think when you feel relaxed and comfortable on the court, I think that really helps with your tennis.
“The way the guys run the tournament and the crowds and everything, it’s such a high-level tournament they put on.”
An all-British doubles final followed as rising young stars Rajecki and Xu produced a fine performance to beat Hannah Klugman and Ranah Stoiber 6-4, 6-1.
Tournament Promoter, Dave Courteen, added, “It’s been an excellent week of tennis. This year was the strongest field we have ever had in terms of world rankings and it’s certainly not disappointed in terms of the quality of tennis.
“To have a crowd of 650 for finals day is the biggest we’ve had and it just shows there is demand for people to watch world-class tennis here in Shrewsbury. It’s brilliant to bring an event of this stature to the town.”
View the full results from the Lexus W100 Shrewsbury:
Meanwhile at the Edgbaston Priority Tennis Club, Matusevich beat three of his fellow countrymen en route to the final, where he capped off an impressive week with a 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 win over Italy’s Federico Bondioli.
Speaking after the final Matusevich said, “It was very close, Federico was very tricky today. I’ve lost four finals before, so I was really tight today but happy to get through it and congratulations to my opponent on a great week.”
While he might have missed out on the singles title, Bondioli emerged victorious in the doubles competition alongside German partner Daniel Masur. The pair defeated Britain’s Joe Tyler and American Phillip Jordan 6-2, 6-2.
The winning doubles pair, who were playing together for the first time, celebrated a perfect start to the partnership, with Masur saying, “It was tough to get through the first few rounds, we won close matches on match tie-breaks and then played our best match in the final – basically everything went in! First time paying doubles together and it worked out very well!”
LTA Tournament Director Sarah Wooding said, “It was a pleasure to return to Edgbaston Priory Club Indoor Tennis Centre as Tournament Director of the Lexus GB Pro-Series Edgbaston and we were looked after very well. We enjoyed a great week of tennis, with many close matches, capped by a three set Singles Final, in which Anton Matusevich emerged victorious over Federico Bondioli.”
View the full results:
