Francesca Jones wins Palermo Open title, George Loffhagen claims first ATP Challenger trophy & Emma Raducanu returns to British No.1
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Catch up on all the updates from another exciting week across the tennis tours with ranking breakthroughs, first titles and a return to British No.1 for a former Grand Slam champion.
Jones stars in Palermo
Francesca Jones continued her impressive form with her second WTA 125 title of the month at the 36° Palermo Ladies Open in Italy.
The third seed defeated Dutch star Anouk Koevermans 6-3, 6-2 in the final to finish another excellent week on the clay with a trophy.
Jones didn’t drop a set throughout the tournament, picking up wins over Chloe Paquet, Oksana Selekhmeteva, Panna Udvardy and Tatiana Prozorova.
Heading into July, Jones hadn’t won a title at WTA 125 level and now she finishes the month with two under her belt and having broken into the world’s top 100 for the first time in her career.
Now at world No.84, Jones is one of four British players in the WTA top 100, joining Emma Raducanu, Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal.
This is the 11th title of the 24-year-old’s career – all of which have come on clay.
Loffhagen makes ATP Challenger breakthrough
There was also a breakthrough for 24-year-old George Loffhagen last week, winning his first ATP Challenger singles title in Segovia, Spain.
The British star had to fight through a three-hour final against Nicolas Alvarez Varona to seal the title with a 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 6-4 victory.
It’s the biggest title of Loffhagen’s career so far and his fourth of the season – adding to trophies in Quinta do Lago, Vale do Lobo and Nottingham.
Loffhagen – who is supported by the LTA Pro Scholarship Programme, presented by Lexus – overcame fellow Brit Ryan Peniston in the opening round before going on to beat Hugo Grenier, Rafael Jodar and Edas Butvilas.
Raducanu reclaims British No.1 spot
Former US Open champion Raducanu headlined the British performances on the WTA and ATP tours last week – making the semi-finals of the WTA 500 in Washington.
The British star picked up statement wins over seventh seed Marta Kostyuk, four-time major winner Naomi Osaka and former world No.3 Maria Sakkari en-route to the final four.
In the semi-finals however, she lost out to Anna Kalinskaya 6-4, 6-3 to deny her place in what would have been a first final since the US Open.
Off the back of her best result of the season, Raducanu has jumped 13 places in the rankings to world No.33 – reclaiming her position as British No.1.
Also in Washington, Neal Skupski and Australia’s John-Patrick Smith lost in the men’s doubles semi-final 4-6, 6-3, 10-5 against top seeds Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori.
Elsewhere, Marcus Willis made the final of the ATP 250 Umag with Patrik Trhac but eventually finished runners-up to fourth seeds Romain Arneodo and Manuel Guinard 7-5, 7-6(2).
There were also semi-final finishes for Alicia Barnett and Emily Appleton with their respective partners at the Prague Open.
Jubb crowned champion in Champaign
Paul Jubb clinched his second ITF singles title of the season so far at the M25 Champaign over the weekend.
Jubb, 25, defeated Jamaica’s Blaise Bicknell 6-1, 7-6(4) in the final to bag the 12th singles trophy of his career.
Meanwhile, Victoria Allen won her second consecutive doubles title, this time teaming up with Germany’s Angelina Wirges to lift the W15 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Allen and Wirges beat Sravya Shivani Chilakalapudi and Emma Kamper 6-1, 2-6, 10-6 in the final to add to her recent trophy at the Lexus GB Pro Series Nottingham.
