Team Bath tennis players one win away from home final in Aegon GB Pro-Series
Team Bath MCTA’s Richard Gabb is one win away from reaching the Aegon GB Pro-Series men’s singles final after serving up another treat for home fans at the University of Bath on Thursday.
The 23-year-old (pictured) overcame Ireland’s Sam Barry 6-4 2-6 7-5 in front of an appreciative crowd at the Sports Training Village on Thursday to reach the semi-finals of the $15k tournament.
Standing between him and Saturday’s final is Germany’s Mat Moraing, who beat number one seed Tom Kocevar-Desman of Slovenia 6-4 6-1.
Friday’s other semi-final will be between the number two and three seeds, Belgium’s Joris De Loore and Canada’s Filip Peliwo respectively.
De Loore overcame compatriot Michael Geerts 6-2 6-3, while Peliwo – a former Wimbledon and US Open junior champion – came from behind to beat Britain’s Luke Bambridge 1-6 7-5 6-3.
Peliwo, partnered by Sam Barry, was victorious against Bambridge again in the men’s doubles semi-final, beating him and Jonny O’Mara 7-5 6-4.
There was disappointment for Gabb and partner Scott Clayton in the other semi as they went down 6-4 6-1 to fellow Brits Lloyd Glasspool and Joshua Warb-Hibbert.
The final will take place on Court 1 on Friday afternoon, after the conclusion of the two men’s semi-finals.
There is still plenty of home interest in the women’s doubles after Team Bath MCTA’s Lisa Whybourn and partner Freya Christie beat Dutch duo Indy De Vroome and Arantxa Rus 6-3 0-6 10-6 in a rollercoaster quarter-final.
Team Bath Tennis player Sarah Beth Askew and partner Olivia Nicholls are also through to Friday’s semi-finals after their 6-2 7-5 win over fellow Brits Emily Arbuthnott and Ema Lazic.
Whybourn’s progress in the doubles provided some consolation for her earlier 6-3 6-3 defeat to Georgia’s Mariam Bolkvadze in the last 16 of the $25k women’s singles.
That means Christie, her doubles partner, is the only remaining Brit in the competition after her 6-4 7-5 win over Italian number eight seed Alice Matteucci.
With only three seeds left in the draw, Friday’s quarter-finals promise to deliver more exciting and intriguing matches.
The action gets under way at 11am and entry to spectators is free once again.
Live scoring is available at www.lta.org.uk/agbps and the full order of play can be found at itftennis.com/procircuit, along with the results so far.
