Tursunov puts paid to last British hope of singles finalist
Dmitry Tursunov of Russia will face Andreas Beck of Germany in tomorrow’s final of the AEGON ATP Challenger tournament at the University of Bath – an all-time first encounter for the duo.
Beck, seeded six and world ranked 135, won his semi-final today in three sets 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 against Jurgen Zopp of Estonia.
Tursunov, a former top 20 player who is seeded third and world-ranked 100, beat Britain’s Dan Evans by a comfortable 6-3,6-2 scoreline, putting paid to Britain’s last hope of a singles finalist.
Tursunov, serving more powerfully than earlier in the week, closed out today’s game with two consecutive aces and always looked the more dominant and consistent player.
Evans mixed the pace to disrupt the Russian’s rhythm with a series of floated backhands, but could not get as close as their last encounter at Queen’s Club in 2010 which went to three sets.
Tursunov said: “Today at the important points I think I played well. Although the margin looked big on the scoreline there were a lot of games that were very close. It was a tough match and I made some silly mistakes when I had a bit of an advantage.
“He’s a pretty tricky player to play. He hits the ball very big but has a good defensive slice which is a pretty hard shot to attack.
“He has a big golf bag full of shots and as he gets more experienced he will learn when to select each one better”.
Beck, who beat top seed Nicholas Mahut in the quarter-finals in Bath, reached a career high of 33 in 2009 and like Tursunov is battling his way back up the rankings. The winner’s prize is $6,150.
“He’s a lefty and serves very well”, said Tursunov of his opponent. “He hits the ball pretty big. I think it will come down to who can be consistent. I need to make the right moves and not zone out”.
Entry to tomorrow’s finals session at the University of Bath Sporting Training Village (http://www.bath.ac.uk/about/gettinghere/) is free of charge to spectators.
Polish qualifier Marta Domachowska, meanwhile, is having a good week in Bath. She followed up her runners-up slot in the doubles final yesterday by reaching tomorrow’s women’s singles final where she will meet Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland.
Domachowska beat Claire Feuerstein of France in today’s semi-finals 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 in a hard-hitting battle. Voegele dispatched Elitsa Kostova of Bulgaria 7-6, 4-6, 6-2.
Today’s men’s doubles final also features Germany’s Andreas Beck in tandem with Yves Allegro of Switzerland. They face British Davis Cup player Jamie Delgado and Jonathan Marray for the $2,650 prize.
For further information contact the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd on (01225) 383518 or (for this weekend) 07831 755351 or press@matchtight.co.uk
Notes
The University of Bath
The University of Bath is one of the UK’s leading universities. Our Mission is to deliver world-class research and teaching, educating our graduates to become future leaders and innovators, and benefiting the wider population through our research, enterprise and influence. Our courses are innovative and interdisciplinary and we have an outstanding record of graduate employment. We are ranked in the UK top 15 of universities in The Guardian, Times, Sunday Times and Independent national tables.
The University of Bath is a member of The 1994 Group representing 19 of the UK’s leading student-focused research-intensive universities. Established in1994 it promotes excellence in university research and teaching.
The University features world-leading sports facilities at the Sports Training Village which fully open to members of the public, as well as University of Bath students and staff. Its facilities are also used by individual athletes and teams training for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The TeamBath MCTA Tennis Academy is one of the LTA’s four International High Performance Centre’s and is based at the University of Bath Sports Training Village. It offers a complete range of tennis from mini tennis for kids, recreational tennis through to performance tennis.
British Tennis
• AEGON is Lead Partner of British Tennis, and supports the game at all levels from grassroots programmes such as AEGON Schools Tennis and AEGON Parks Tennis, through to supporting British talent in the AEGON FutureStars programme and Team AEGON. It is also title sponsor for the British Tennis Series, of grass court tournaments, including the AEGON Championships at Queen’s Club. For further information visit www.aegon.co.uk/tennis <http://www.aegon.co.uk/tennis <http://www.aegon.co.uk/tennis> >
• The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is working to improve competitive opportunities for players of all levels and ages, including those aged 16-years-old and over, for example through the club v club AEGON Team Tennis competition, and events such as the AEGON GB Pro Series
• Increasing the number of junior players competing regularly, that is those players who compete six or more times a year, is also a key priority for the LTA. This has increased from 8,000 to more than 40,000 over the past four years, an increase of 450%.