By Glenys Furness
- Emily Appleton made final in Florida
- Neal Skupski made semi-final in Adelaide
NAPLES, FLORIDA, USA – Emily Appleton with Quinn Gleason made the final of the ITF event, whilst Neal Skupski made the semi-final in Adelaide.
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ATP/WTA Doubles
Neal Skupski & Wesley Koolhof entered the ATP Adelaide 2 event. The Brit/Dutch pair were the top seeds. Their first opponents were Hugo Nys & Jan Zielinski. The first set saw the top seeds break the Polish pair early which enabled them to take the lead. The second set was much closer however. The Poles forced a tiebreak, which the top seeds eased through and moved into the next round 6-3, 7-6(4).
In the quarter-final the Brit/Dutch were against eighth seeds Santiago Gonzalez & Edouard Roger-Vasselin. The Mexican/French pair stayed with the top seeds in the first set and forced a tiebreak. The eighth seeds edged the breaker and took the lead. The second set saw Skupski & Koolhof fight hard and force a breaker, which they edged to level up the match. In the ensuing match tiebreak Skupski & Koolhof got the lead and moved into the next round 6-7( 9), 7-6(5), 10-6.
The semi-final saw them against third seeds Ivan Dodig & Austin Krajicek. The Croat/American pair dominated the first set and took the lead. The second was much closer as Skupki & Koolhof stayed with the third seeds to force a tiebreak. Unfortunately, it was the third seeds that got the break and took the match 6-2, 7-6(4).
Meanwhile over in Auckland, Jamie Murray & Michael Venus were the fourth seeds. Their opponents in the first round were Jackson Withrow & Nathaniel Lammons. The seeds and Americans went toe to toe in the first set and needed a tiebreak to sort them. Murray & Venus dominated the tie break and took the lead. In the second set, the Americans re-grouped and broke the seeds serve to level up the match. The ensuing match tiebreak was very close, but ultimately it was the Americans that edged through into the next round 6-7(2), 6-4, 12-10.
In Hobart, Alicia Barnett teamed up with Monica Niculescu and were against Tamara Korpatsch & Xinyun Han. The German/Chinese pair stayed with the Brit/Romanian in the first set and forced a tiebreak. Korpatsch & Han dominated the breaker and took the lead. The second set saw Barnett & Niculescu re-group, and break serve to level up the match. The ensuing match tiebreak saw the Brit/Romanian take the lead and move into the next round 6-7(2), 6-3, 10-5.
In the quarter-final the Brit/Romanian were against Panna Udvardy & Viktorija Golubic. The Hungarian/Swiss pair forced a tiebreak in the first set, which they eased through to take the lead. Barnett & Niculescu tried to re-group in the second set but Udvardy & Golubic dominated to move into the next round 7-6(4), 6-2.
Challenger & ITF Doubles
In Naples, Florida, Emily Appleton teamed up with Quinn Gleason and were the second seeds. In the first round the Brit/American were against Jamie Loeb & Ana Sofia Sanchez. The seeds managed to secure the break of serve in the first set against the American/Mexican and took the lead. The second set saw Appleton & Gleason dominate and move into the next round 6-4, 6-2.
The quarter-final saw the Brit/American against Laura Boehner & Arina Gabriela Vasilescu. The German/Romanian stayed with the seeds in the first set, before Appleton & Gleason secured the break of serve to move into the lead. The second set was a little easier for the seeds as they broke early and moved into the next round in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.
In the semi-final the Brit/American were aginst the third seeds Caijsa Wilda Hennemann & Ashley Lahey. The Swede/American stayed close to the second seeds, before Appleton & Gleason secured a break of serve to move into the lead. The second set was even closer, as the third seeds forced a tiebreak. The Brit/American dominated the tiebreak and moved into the next round 6-4, 7-6(2).
The final saw Appleton & Gleason against the fourth seeds Reese Brantmeier & Makenna Jones. The Americans secured a break of serve in the first set to take the lead. The second seeds tried to re-group in the second set, but unfortunately the Americans were unstoppable and dominated to take the match 6-4, 6-2.
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Doubles Round Up
Luke Johnson with Sem Verbeek were defeated by David Pel & Sander Arends in the quarter-final in Oeiras 6-2, 1-6, 10-8.
Giles Hussey with Yannik Steinegger were defeated by Federico Bertuccioli & Andrea Picchione in the first round in Veigy-Foncenex 7-6(4), 7-6(4).
Freya Christie & Ali Collins were defeated by Maileen Nuudi & Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove in the first round in Tallinn 6-4, 6-1.
Emily Webley-Smith with Sofia Shapatava were defeated by Berfu Cengiz & Natalia Szabanin in the first round in Tallinn 4-6, 6-4, 10-7.
Next Week Brits play in Australian Open, Nonthaburi, Tenerife, Sheffield, Spain, France, Estonia, India, Tunisia, Guadalupe & USA.
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