ILKLEY/STARNBERG, June 14, 2022
The sun shone on a perfectly conditioned Tuesday at the Ilkley Trophy. With the €134,920 ATP Challenger Tour main draw action well underway, it was Daniel Cox leading the charge for British players.
World No. 505 Cox, who initially retired from professional tennis in 2017 before making his comeback in 2020, defeated his compatriot and fellow qualifier Charles Broom in two tight sets 7-6(1), 7-6(1) to advance to the second round of the grass-court event. The 31-year-old Lincoln native outpointed his rival 93-74 after one hour and 51 minutes.
“Yeah, I mean it was really difficult. We both know each other very well and yeah I think we are both playing very good tennis at the moment. We were going toe-to-toe and I think it was a really exciting match to be involved in and yeah just really pleased to come through it in a tight one,” said Cox.
Cox, a winner of 16 titles on the ITF Pro Circuit, will next take on Belgian qualifier Zizou Bergs, who rallied past No. 8 seed Jurij Rodionov of Austria 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 in two hours and two minutes.
Elsewhere on the pristine grass courts of Ilkley Lawn Tennis and Squash Club, an upset occurred in the top half of the draw as Portuguese World No. 128 Nuno Borges knocked out Australian top seed Jordan Thompson 6-4, 7-5 in one hour and 28 minutes. Up next for Borges will be Italian veteran Andreas Seppi.
Ilkley Trophy Results
