Delight for Dudeney as Brits claim more titles in Nottingham

The World Tennis W50 title is Hove-born Dudeney’s biggest title of her career to date, having won eight titles since turning pro last year and rising from being unranked to now sitting at a career-high ranking of 224. The number one seed showed all week why she was the player to beat, dropping just one set throughout the tournament. Four of Dudeney five wins came against British opponents, including eighth seed Victoria Allen in the quarter finals and fifth seed Hannah Klugman in the semifinals.

 In the final Dudeney faced fellow Brit and sixth seed Naiktha Bains for the crown, who herself had enjoyed a strong run to the final, dropping just three games across her quarter and semifinal matchups. The first set saw both players trade breaks of serve in the opening few games, before Dudeney reeled off three games on the spin to take the first set. The second set began much the same as the first, with a break for each player, before both players took their service games up a notch, with the rest of the set going on serve to go to a tiebreak. It was Dudeney who took control of the tiebreak, racing into a 5-2 lead, and despite a fightback from Bains, it was the Sussex native who emerged victorious, sealing a 6-3, 7-6(5) win.

After the match Dudeney, who also made her WTA Tour and Grand Slam main draw debuts this summer said, “I feel great, I think I played some really good tennis this week. Playing some bigger tournaments on grass [over the summer] and seeing the higher level definitely gave me motivation to keep improving my game and I think it’s given me a lot of confidence that I brought this week.”

Brooke Black and Kenyan partner Angella Okutoyi were victorious in the women's doubles.

In the women’s doubles, British youngster Brooke Black claimed her biggest title to date, playing alongside Kenya’s Angella Okutoyi. The pair defeated three all-British teams en-route to the final, including third seeds Mika Stojsavljevic and eventual singles champion Dudeney in the semifinals, before number two seeds Victoria Allen and Amelia Rajecki unfortunately had to withdraw from the final, handing Black and Okutoyi the title by walkover.

Following the conclusion of the singles final, LTA Tournament Director Kerry Smith said, “We enjoyed another great week of competition on court, with the Lexus Nottingham Tennis Centre providing a stellar venue for the event. After a clean sweep of titles for British men at the Lexus Nottingham Challenger last week, it was great to see those followed up by title-winning performances from British women, so a big congratulations to Alicia, Brooke and Angella for their strong showings.”

International tournaments such as the Lexus British Pro Series Nottingham are part of the LTA’s Performance Competitions Calendar (PCC) which provides significantly enhanced opportunities for British players at each age and stage of the performance player pathway on home soil. The calendar is designed to provide comprehensive opportunities for British players to play, earn ranking points and win prize money at home, throughout the year.

The next stop on the British summer swing will be Aldershot, as a combined World Tennis M25 and W35 tournament heads to Aldershot Tennis Centre, while this week, County Week gets underway across the country, as players battle it out in the Summer County Cup.