By Glenys Furness
- Kyle Edmund qualified for the main draw in Doha
- James Ward fell in final qualifying round in Chennai
Doha, Qatar – Kyle Edmund, made the main draw in Doha in one of the first events of the 2016 season. In Chennai, India James Ward was unable to make the main draw.
Kyle Edmund continued his impressive form from the end of last year, as he qualified for the main draw of the ATP 250 event in Doha, Qatar. Making short work of both his qualifying matches to face a first round tie against Martin Klizan. Edmund would go on to reach his first quarter final, where he lost in straight sets to Tomas Berdych.
The doubles saw the first match of the season for Colin Fleming & Jonathan Erlich. The first round saw them face the top seeds and unfortunately the seeds showed their ranking by taking the match in straight sets. Also playing the doubles here were Jamie Murray & Bruno Soares. Second seeds Murray & Soares were playing their first event as a doubles team and made great progress in reaching the semi final, where the third seeds ended the run with a very tight three set match.
Over in Chennai and James Ward tried to start his season off with progression to the main draw. Seeded second in qualifying Ward took the first round fairly comfortably in straight sets. In the final qualifying round Ward faced the sixth seed Somdev Devvarman and took the first set with ease. Devvarman then secured a tight second set when he broke at the death 7-5. Only one break of serve followed in the final set and Ward was out. Ward was first in line for a Lucky Loser position, however did not accept when this came through late as he headed to Perth for the funeral of his coach Darren Tandy. In the doubles Aljaz Bedene teamed up with Treat Huey however, having drawn the third seeds they lost a tight match in the first round.
Over in Brisbane and the doubles. There were two Brits in action here. Jonathan Marray is partnering Pakistan doubles player Aisam ul Haq Qureshi this season. Marray & Qureshi drew the third seeds Lukasz Kubot & Marcin Matkowski in the first round. The seeds proved too strong for Marray & Qureshi and took the match in straight sets. Also playing here were Dom Inglot & Robert Lindstedt and they were seeded fourth. After a tough battle in the first round that Inglot & Lindstedt won on the match tie break set, the pair progressed to the semi final where they faced the second seeds John Peers & Henri Kontinen. The seeds were just a little stronger than Inglot & Lindstedt and won the semi in straight sets to make their first final of the year (and their first as a doubles team).
Over to the challenger tour and in Happy Valley Dan Evans and Brydan Klein were in the singles draw. Evans lost in straight sets to a qualifier in the first round. Klein also failed to progress from the first round in straight sets, although these were very close with only one break of serve all match. Klein did better in the doubles where he had teamed up with Peter Polansky. Using a Protected Ranking the team were seeded fourth and made quick progress to the semi final. The semi final was a very tight affair with Klein & Polansky taking the first set very comfortably before losing the second set on a tiebreak. The match tiebreak was very close ending at 10-12. Incidentally the opponent that Klein faced in the singles and the doubles semi final was Andrey Golubev.
In Bangkok Liam Broady and Joshua Milton were both in qualifying. Broady was seeded 7th and lost in straight sets to Danil Medvedev. Milton progressed one round further after defeating the fourth seed in a match that went the distance. The next round Milton lost in straight sets which left no Brits in the main draw. In the doubles Ken & Neal Skupski were seeded fourth and progressed quickly and comfortable to the semi final. The brothers lost the semi final, they took the first set 6-2 and the next were tiebreaks, this was very close as it also went 10-12.
On the WTA tour and in Auckland Noami Broady romped through qualifying only losing one set on the way to a place in the main draw.
Next week Brits will be in Melbourne, Hobart, Auckland, Sydney, Bangkok.
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