SURBITON, June 6, 2018
Four qualifiers survived the opening round at the €127,000 Fuzion 100 Surbiton Trophy on Tuesday. Australian Matthew Ebden battled past Dustin Brown 6-7, 7-5, 6-3.
The World No. 73 from Perth withstood 10 aces from the German, firing seven of his own to prevail in one hour and 50 minutes. Next up for Ebden will be No. 7 seed Mackenzie McDonald from the United States.
Taylor Fritz also came back from a set down beating British wild card entry Lloyd Glasspool 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. The 20-year-old US-American will next take on fellow #NextGenATP star Alex de Minaur.
Daniel Brands fought past Adrian Menéndez-Maceiras of Spain 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. The big-serving German struck 16 aces to seal victory in one hour and 46 minutes. Brands will challenge top seed Jeremy Chardy of France in the second round.
Local favourite Daniel Evans saw off a spirited challenge from Thomas Fabbiano 6-4, 7-5 to meet Mats Moraing of Germany next.
Lleyton Hewitt won his doubles match with partner Alex Bolt. The Australian pair, who received a wild card into the doubles event, defeated Britain’s Jay Clarke and Marcus Willis 4-6, 7-5, 10-7.
Taylor stuns Watson
Gabriella Taylor – photo: Chloe Knott
Gabriella Taylor recorded one of the best wins of her career when she knocked top seed Heather Watson out of the $100,000 ITF Pro Circuit women’s event in the first round on Tuesday.
The world No. 184 battled back from a set down to triumph 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in one hour 52 minutes and set up a second round match against Fanni Stollar of Hungary.
“I stayed positive throughout the whole match despite not feeling 100%,” said Taylor. “I think from the second set I played much better tennis; I was more comfortable and was striking the ball well so I’m really pleased with myself and I’m looking forward to the next round.”
Katie Swan booked her place in the next round with victory over No. 7 seed Arina Rodionova, who is ranked 114 places above her. The British wild card struggled on serve in the first set but stayed focused and took her chances in the second and third to run out a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 winner.
“It was a tough match. Arina is a great player and she is tricky to play on grass because she has good hands, likes to come forward and she uses a lot of drop shots so I’m happy that I managed to come through in the end,” said the 19-year-old.
Swan will face compatriot Harriet Dart, who defeated qualifier Mariam Bolkvadze of Georgia 6-3, 6-3, in the next round.
Katie Boulter came through a close three set encounter against qualifier Asia Muhammad from the United States 6-7(1), 7-6(4), 6-3 to advance to the second round where she will face No. 5 seeded Croatian Jana Fett.
“I’ve known Asia a long time, she can play some really good tennis and her game suits this court,” said the world No. 163. “It was difficult today as I couldn’t get my normal rhythm as it was my first match on grass so it was really good to get through.”
