Last few remain in singles at AEGON Junior Nationals
23rd August 2012
The 12U & 14U events have reached the semi-finals stage whilst the 18U & 16U quarter-finalists are decided at AEGON Junior Nationals in West Hants and Nottingham.
Leading the way in the 18&U event was Scott Clayton who put friendship aside as he battled his way into the quarter-finals of the boys' singles event in Nottingham.
Clayton, the top seed in the 18&U boys draw, defeated training partner Toby Mitchell 7-6, 6-2 at the Nottingham Tennis Centre to book his place in the final eight.
The 18-year-old has been training with Mitchell in Bath for the last year and admitted it was tough to play against a friend.
“We both know how we like to play so it makes it quite difficult really,” said Clayton. “Toby has been in Bath a while but I moved there last year to train and we play a lot together.
“We are playing doubles together as well but I just knew I had to come through the match. I was No.1 seed for a tournament here in April and came through that to win so I’m confident I can do the same.”
Clayton now faces a quarter-final clash with wild card Callum Poland-Smith after he defeated Imran Aswat in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1.
Peter Ashley defeated David Hodgetts 6-3, 6-1 and will now play last year’s 16&U champion Joshua Page, Joshua Sapwell takes on Clay Crawford and Aaron Banasik will matchup against Oliver Plaskett.
Top seed Alicia Barnett laid down a marker in the girls 18&U draw with a thumping 6-0, 6-0 win against Francesca Faulkes.
Barnett will take on Kim Schmider, who was a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Miranda Cooney while there were also wins for Dominique Covington, Beth Askew and second seed Brigit Folland.
Derbyshire’s Jay Clarke is through to the 14&U semi-finals after another of his matches was cut short through a retirement.
Clarke was leading 6-2, 3-0 against 12th seed Charles Broom when the match was brought to a premature end. It was the second retirement in the space of two days for Clarke after Ewan Moore cut short their match on Tuesday.
Clarke will now face Vincent Gillespie in the semi-final with Sam Ferguson taking on Marcus Walters after their wins over Luke Stevenson and Joe Woolley respectively.
Jazzi Plews will play Gabriela Taylor in the 14&U girls draw semi-final after they both recorded straight set victories.
Top seed Plews beat Serena Nash 7-5, 6-2 while Taylor overcame Emily Arbuthnott 7-6, 6-3. Katie Swan will play Jodie Burrage in the second semi-final.
Meanwhile, Freya Christie maintained her quest for the 16&U title by reaching the quarter-finals.
Christie, who opened her campaign with victory against Alice Taylor on Tuesday, defeated Anna Popescu 6-0, 6-3 to reach the final eight. The Nottingham-based player will now face eighth seed Laura Hopton, following her 7-5, 6-2 win against Emma Wilson.
Third seed Lana Rush will play Berkshire’s Hannah Brett in the quarters after defeating Pippa Carr 6-4, 6-0 while Sabrina Federici will also play Jennifer Brown for a place in the semi finals.
In the boys draw, Isaac Stoute sent out a warning to the rest of the field with a 6-2, 6-0 victory against Jack Haworth 6-2, 6-0.
Stoute will now face Adam Glynn after his 6-2, 6-3 win over Giles Waterson while there were also wins for top seed Lewis Roskilly and Julian Cash.
Down in Bournmemouth the semi-finalists were decided in the boys' and girls' singles draws. Top seed Finn Bass continued his domination in the boys with a straight sets win over sixth seed George Hutchings.
Bass will now meet fifth seed Jake Hersey who put out Josh Lazenby, also in straight sets in the quarter-final. The other semi-finals will see unseeded players Oscar Cutting and Joshua Wilson go head to head after they beat the third seed Ewen Lumsden and second seed Brandon Drew respectively.
In the girls' draw Michaella Brown [7] overcame Hannah Davies in three sets to set up a semi-final against fourth seed Nell Miller, who beat Kira Reuter after having lost the opening set 6-0.
The second semi-final will see sixth seed Emily Appleton against 16th seed Louisiana Vine after they overcame Eliz Maloney [3] and Aalexandra Hunter [11] in their last eight matches.
The girls' doubles title will also be decided on Thursday at the West Hants Club.