Week 24: Halle; Queen's; Nottingham

[SirBloody Idiot]

Gerry Weber Open II
PTA World Tour 250 - Saturday (Semifinals) - Halle, Germany - Grass

• Sven Oxenstierna is through to a maiden tour final on grass after putting a stop to defending champion Rasmus Olesen's form in impressive style. The World No. 4 put in undoubtedly his best performance of the week against a high quality opponent as he cruised into the final in straight sets. Olesen struggled with his serve in gusty conditions, and his lanky frame was punished by the constant Oxenstierna onslaught. While he too had some troubles with serving consistency, he was a heck of a lot better than his Danish opponent to hand him his first loss at Halle 6-3, 6-2.

• Tomorrow he will meet eighth seed Carlo Amato who went one better than his Season I semifinal with an impressive 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 win over sixth seeded Croat Miroslav Brdar.

• Seeded players out: Miroslav Brdar; Rasmus Olesen.

• In tomorrow's doubles final, third seeds Ashim Kumar and Seby Kumar go in as favourites as they meet Belgian duo Roel Hervelle and Yves Parmentier.

• Seeded players out: None.

[SirBloody Idiot]

AEGON Nottingham Challenge II
PTA World Tour 250 - Saturday (Semifinals) - Nottingham, United Kingdom - Grass

• Fifteenth seed Ishan Narang is through to the final of the Nottingham Challenge after a straight sets win over South Africa's Oliver Thursfield. The World No. 126 played well for the most part against a lively opponent as he fired down eleven aces to keep Thursfield from breaking serve. While the match wasn't the most enthralling contest (even at this level), Narang did his best to keep a modest crowd entertained as he sought to play an "unmakeable" shot between his legs on match point. Unfortunately for him, the ball rolls along the ground before trickling into the net. He won with his second match point 6-3, 7-5.

• He meets tenth seed Italian Marco Pellegrini who stunned third seed Rick Langley of West CWLand. Langley led a set and 5-2, and at 15-0 on serve looked a sure thing to advance to tomorrow's final. Unfortunately, the World No. 99 capitulated in entertaining spectacular fashion to drop the next four games before doing just enough to send the set to a tiebreaker. He dropped that 2-7, and the fight continued in the third in a WTA-esque run of six service breaks. In a set decided by who would hold first, Pellegrini secured a meeting with Narang 6-7(5), 7-6(2), 7-5.

• Seeded players out: Rick Langley.

[ripper868]

Gah...was never going to get past Hall but at least there were a couple of wins there.

[SirBloody Idiot]

AEGON Championships II
PTA World Tour 250 - Sunday (Final) - Queen's Club, London, United Kingdom - Grass

• Wimbledon favourite Jason Hall has claimed his first title on grass with a straight sets win over World No. 8 Jefferson Drake at Queens. In a hotly anticipated final between the first and third seeds, Drake started slowly as he was broken by the world's top player who moved to a 4-1 lead. But after a sluggish start, the East CWLander managed to string some games together and with a great reaching backhand volley levelled the set at 5-5. However he couldn't hold to take the set to a tiebreaker, as Hall capitalised on another short forehand from Drake to crack a backhand winner down the line. Hall continues to show impressive power off both wings, and again opened up a lead early in the second set as Drake's powerful groundies failed to hit their mark consistently enough. While he took Hall to deuce on the American ace's serve in three games in the second set, he couldn't secure the break he needed to stay alive. Serving at 2-5, he handed Hall three championship points with a double fault of which he needed just one to start his Wimbledon campaign with a 7-5, 6-2 title victory.

• Seeded players out: Jefferson Drake.

• Season I champions Hayden Onwye and Ross Onwye failed to defend their Queens title as second seeds Heath Davis and Jojo Mustard picked up an impressive victory in the final. In a watertight contest, both teams provided a highly entertaining display of tennis for the many fans still in attendance after the singles final and, after dropping the first set, Davis and Mustard ensured the final would go to a match tiebreaker. They shot to a 9-5 lead, but needed three match points to secure the win 6-7(5), 7-5, [10-7].

• Seeded players out: Hayden Onwye & Ross Onwye.

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Another win! Beating those stalwarts of Moroccan tennis too. We'll soon be overhaulin' those cheeky Yanks for the World #1 slot in doubles.

Drake clearly forgot his milk before this match.

[SirBloody Idiot]

Gerry Weber Open II
PTA World Tour 250 - Sunday (Final) - Halle, Germany - Grass

• World No. 4 Sven Oxenstierna has broken through to claim his maiden grass title with a three-set win over eighth seed Carlo Amato. Effectively the top-seeded player in the Halle draw, the Ox faced a big test against the Italian who had been largely untroubled all week. In a tight first set, it was the West CWLander who drew first blood as some fine returning earned him an important break of service to take it 7-5. But where many of his opponents have slipped after dropping a set to the Ox, the in form Amato continued his good form and, despite being forced to save a number of break point chances, managed to claim the second set 7-5. With everything on the line in the third set, Amato and Oxenstierna started nervously with a number of uncharacteristic errors. Despite the few ranking points on offer, both players clearly had a lot to gain from victories and it was Amato who cracked first as he missed a backhand to hand Oxenstierna a 4-2 lead. That was enough for the second seed who clung onto his lead and took a title on a third surface 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.

• Seeded players out: Carlo Amato.

• In the men's doubles final, third seeds Ashim Kumar and Seby Kumar claimed the title with a 6-4, 6-7(6), [10-3] win over Belgian duo Roel Hervelle and Yves Parmentier.

• Seeded players out: None.

[SirBloody Idiot]

AEGON Nottingham Challenge II
PTA World Tour 250 - Sunday (Final) - Nottingham, United Kingdom - Grass

• In the final of the AEGON Nottingham Challenge, East CWLand's Ishan Narang broke the drought of East CWLanders winning a tour title with a 7-5, 6-0 win over tenth seed Marco Pellegrini. No East CWLand player other than Jefferson Drake has won a title at any level since Roy Daniels in Campsfield in March of this season, and Narang was clearly under pressure early against the surprise packet from Italy. But after going down 0-3, Narang woke up and started to play some of the best tennis of the week as he confidently attacked the weak Pellegrini serve and took the set 7-5. It was an absolute cakewalk for Narang from there as he decisively broke immediately and then twice more to shut the Italian out of the second set to secure the title in convincing fashion.

• Seeded players out: Marco Pellegrini.

[Samuel_Vimes]

[Mister Wright]

Congrats to 'The Ox'.

Great to win yet another doubles title. That should give us some confidence going into Wimbledon.

[dontcloseyoureyes]

death to america

[SirBloody Idiot]

AEGON International II - Men's Singles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Radek Špidlá was the defending champion, but he withdrew with a stomach injury.

Jason Hall won the tournament, defeating Jefferson Drake 7-5, 6-2 in the final.

[SirBloody Idiot]

AEGON International II - Men's Doubles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hayden Onwye and Ross Onwye were the defending champions, but lost in the final to Heath Davis and Jojo Mustard who won 6-7(5), 7-5, [10-7].

[SirBloody Idiot]

Gerry Weber Open II - Men's Singles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rasmus Olesen was the defending champion, but was defeated by Sven Oxenstierna in the semifinals.

Oxenstierna won the tournament, defeating Carlo Amato 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 in the final. This marked Oxenstierna's first PTA Tour title on grass.

[SirBloody Idiot]

Gerry Weber Open II - Men's Doubles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[SirBloody Idiot]

AEGON Trophy II - Men's Singles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia