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Anna Smith and Jocelyn Rae in the Fed Cup, 2016
Anna Smith and Jocelyn Rae in the Fed Cup, 2016

Tennis | Doubles Round-up | Winning comeback for Anna Smith and Brit titles in ITS Shrewsbury & Roehampton

Glenys Furness
Tennis

By Glenys Furness & Ros Satar

  • Anna Smith made a successful comeback to the tour after 14 months off the tour, winning the title in Roehampton with Samantha Murray (reporting by Ros Satar)
  • Elliott Farmer & Alexander Jhung claimed the doubles title in Shrewsbury
SHREWSBURY & ROEHAMPTON, UK – There were wins for British pairings Anna Smith & Samantha Murray in Roehampton, and  Elliott Farmer & Alexander Jhung claimed the doubles title in Shrewsbury.

 

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Anna Smith made a successful comeback to the tour after 14 months away, partnering Samantha Murray to the title in ITF Roehampton. They opened against another all British pairing of Freya Christie and Maria Sanchez, starting well bagging the first set, before narrowly being edged in the second, before comfortably closing out the match tie-break 6-2, 5-7, 10-6.

With Murray out on the singles earlier in the day, full focus was back on the doubles as they took on the Swiss pairing of Susan Bandecchi and Leonie Kung. If anything this was a far tougher ask than against the top seeds, losing the first set tie-break. Their response in the second set was decisive, for the loss of just one game, with a tight match tie-break to close 6-7(5), 6-1, 10-8.

By now, the pair were hitting their groove. It was another all-British pairing to face them in the semi-finals – Esther Adeshina and Sonay Kartal, and this was a rather bruising affair for the younger team, who were downed 6-2, 6-1 in 50 minutes.

It was to be a dream comeback for Smith, who last played at Wimbledon last year, and has been enjoying a few stints, teaming up with Britwatch’s Ros Satar and Abigail Johnson over the summer for the Love Sport Radio Tennis Show, as well as joining Britwatch for the US Open podcasts.

The pair were up against Sarah-Rebecca Sekulic and Julia Washaczyk from Germany and after some of their earlier battles, this had its moments. The Germans broke first, only to be pegged back to love, with the pattern repeating at the end of the first set before the Brits broke for the first set.

That momentum stuck with Smith and Murray, breaking early for a lead in the second set, but halted straight away by the Germans. Nerves saw an untimely double-fault help the Brits along with a break for 5-3, dropping just one point on the way to a first title on her return.

 


(Reporting by Ros Satar)

 

Elliott Farmer & Alexander Jhung teamed up for the ITF doubles event in Shrewsbury, the pair were unseeded. In the first round the Brits were against George Foster & Joseph Newman-Billington. Farmer & Jhung established an early lead with the break. Foster & Newman-Billington re-grouped and forced a tiebreak in the second set, which they went on to claim. The deciding match tiebreak was very close, however Farmer & Jhung edged through into the quarter-final 6-4, 6-7(2), 10-8.

The quarter-final saw Farmer & Jhung against George Houghton & Michael Shaw. The first set was very close with neither team giving anything away, ultimately a tiebreak followed. Farmer & Jhung edged the breaker and were ahead. In the second set Farmer & Jhung dominated the opponents and lost only one game to move into the semi-final 7-6(8), 6-1.

In the semi-final Farmer & Jhung were up against Sean Hodkin & Andrew Ponder. For the first time in the tournament Farmer & Jhung found their serve broken, and were unable to get back on serve. The pair re-grouped in the second set and dominated to level the match. In the match tiebreak Farmer & Jhung got ahead and didn’t look back to move into the final 5-7, 6-2, 10-6.

The final saw Farmer & Jhung against Tom Hands & James Mackinley. In both sets Farmer & Jhung were able to break the serve of Hands & Mackinley and get the lead. Once ahead Farmer & Jhung didn’t look back and lifted the trophy with a straight sets win 6-4, 6-3.

 

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Doubles Round Up

Luke Johnson & Ben Jones were defeated by George Houghton & Michael Shaw in the first round in Shrewsbury 6-4, 6-4.

Patrick Foley & Kyle Stocker were defeated by Bernado Azevedo Pereira Oliveira & Robert Strombachs in the first round in Shrewsbury 6-0. 7-5.

Llewelyn Bevan & Jack Oswald were defeated by Sean Hodkin & Andrew Ponder in the first round in Shrewsbury 7-6(4), 6-2.

Joshua Paris with Simon Carr were defeated by Tom Hands & James Mackinley in the first round in Shrewsbury 2-6, 7-6(5), 10-5.

Henry Patten with Josip Krstanovic were defeated by Jonathan Binding & Scott Duncan in the first round in Shrewsbury 3-6, 6-2, 17-15.

George Davies & Adam Jones were defeated by Julian Ocleppo & Francesco Vilardo in the first round in Shrewsbury 6-1, 6-2.

Jonathan Binding & Scott Duncan were defeated by Tom Hands & Mackinley in the quarter-final in Shrewsbury  7-6(6), 6-3.

Sebastian Kay & Daniel Little were defeated by Julian Ocleppo & Francesco Vilaro in the quarter-final in Shrewsbury 6-4, 7-5.

Kyle Edmund & Dan Evans were defeated by Jonathan Erlich & Fabrice Martin in the quarter-final in Chengdu 6-4, 7-5.

Dom Inglot with Austin Krajicek were defeated by Taylor Fritz & Nicholas Monroe in the quarter-final in Chengdu 7-6(5), 6-2.

Cameron Norrie with Albert Ramos Viñolas were defeated by Marcelo Demoliner & Matwé Middelkoop in the first round in Zhuhai 6-3, 7-5.

Luke Bambridge with Ben Mclachlan were defeated by Goncalo Oliveira & Andrei Vasilevski in the quarter-final in Zhuhai 7-6(2), 6-4.

Naomi Broady with Rosalie Van Der Hoek were defeated by Harriet Dart & Danka Kovinić in the first round in Tashkent 6-2, 6-3.

Harriet Dart with Danka Kovinić were defeated by Hayley Carter & Luisa Stefani in the semi-final in Tashkent 6-1, 6-3.

Jonny O’Mara & Ken Skupski were defeated by Hans Podlipnik-Castillo & Tristan-Samuel Weissborn in the semi-final in Orleans 2-6, 7-6(1), 10-5.

Toby Martin with Mike Loccisano were defeated by Raffaele Giuliano & Alessandro Procopio in the first round in Italy 7-6(0), 6-4.

Brydan Klein with Dayne Kelly defeated Thomas Fancutt & Matthew Romios in the final in Australia 7-5, 7-5.

Naiktha Bains with Asia Muhammad were defeated by Destanee Aiava & Lizette Cabrera in the quarter-final in Australia 7-5, 6-4.

Sarah Beth Grey & Eden Silva were defeated by Jessika Ponchet & Isabella Shinikova in the semi-final in Portugal 7-6(4), 7-6(6).

Mark Whitehouse with Felix Corwin were defeated by Jose Daniel Bendeck & Nicolás Mejía in the first round in the USA 6-2, 7-5.

Jonathan Gray with Peter Bothwell were defeated by Harrison Adams & George Goldhoff in the quarter-final in USA 3-6, 6-2, 10-7.

Tara Moore with Emina Bektas were defeated by Gabriela Talaba & Marcela Zacarías in the semi-final in USA 6-3, 6-4.

Jack Gibbens & Isaac Stoute were defeated by Juan Sebastián Gómez & Jorge Panta in the quarter-final in Mexico 6-1, 6-3.

Jack Findel-Hawkins with Lasse Muscheites were defeated by Dan Added & Albano Olivetti in the final in France 6-3, 6-4.

Freya Christie with Maria Sanchez were defeated by Samantha Murray & Anna Smith in the first round in Roehampton 6-2, 5-7, 10-6.

Katie Swan with Jana Fett were defeated by Susan Bandecchi & Leonie Kung in the first round in Roehampton 6-3, 5-7, 10-8.

Gabriella Taylor with Quirine Lemoine were defeated by Myrtille Georges & Julie Gervais in the first round in Roehampton 6-7(4), 6-4, 11-9.

Aleksandra Pitak & Katarzyna Pitak were defeated by Esther Adeshina & Sonay Kartal in the first round in Roehampton 6-3, 6-1.

Amelia Bissett & Morgan Cross were defeated by Sarah-Rebecca Sekulic & Julia Wachaczyk in the first round in Roehampton 6-1, 6-3.

Eliz Maloney with Ilay Yoruk were defeated by Julia Terzijska & Prarthana Thombare in the first round in Roehampton 7-5, 6-2.

Emily Appleton & Alicia Barnett were defeated by Sarah-Rebecca Sekulic & Julia Wachaczyk in the quarter-final in Roehampton 6-3, 6-1.

Esther Adeshina & Sonay Kartal were defeated by Samantha Murray & Anna Smith in the semi-final in Roehampton 6-2, 6-1.

Samantha Murray & Anna Smith defeated Sarah-Rebecca Sekulic & Julia Wachaczyk in the final in Roehampton 6-4, 6-3.

Next week Brits play in Beijing, Barcelona, Italy, Australia, Portugal, USA, Sweden, France, Vietnam & Egypt.

 

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