British Open – Sayers v. Virgona Final!
Published on: Oct 21, 2013
Sunday 24th LIVE MATCH REPORTING (TEXT COMMENTARY)
Semi-finals
2pm Chisholm/Sayers (2) v. Booth/Chapman (4)
4pm Fahey/Virgona (1) v. Matthews/Smith (3)
Saturday 23rd: Singles Semi-finals
2pm Bryn Sayers (3) bt Rob Fahey(1) 4/6 1/6 6/5 6/3 6/4
4pm Steve Virgona (2) bt Tim Chisholm (4) 6/2 4/6 6/5 6/2
Friday 22nd: Today saw the British Open Doubles Quarter finals. The day started with our World Doubles Champions in full form and they quickly saw off the qualifying pair of Williams/Watson. Next Booth/Chapman who started slowly managed to steady themselves and come through in 4 sets against the knowledgable pairing of Lyons/Male. Chisholm/Sayers looked to be cruising before their opponents rattled the cages and snuck the 3rd set 6/4. This was returned with a 6/0 set from the number 2 seeds, winning the match 3 sets to 1. The match of the day was the last match. 3rd seeds Matthews/Smith were up against 6th seeds Medlow/Lumley. Medlow/Lumley got off to a great start and took an early lead in the first two sets. This lead was too much to regain and their solid play meant they found themselves 2 sets to 0 up. Many thought this was the upset of the tournament, but it wasn’t to be. Smith and Matthews dug in and noticeably changed their tactics. With Ricardo now at the net his confident volley and incredible reaction meant Ben was more settled at the back, ready for anything his opponents had to offer. The momentum changed and as did the scoreline. Smith /Matthews ran away with the next 2 sets in a flash. The 5th set was much the same. They found themselves at 5/1 up with Medlow/Lumley becoming visibly frustrated. They staged a minor come back but their opponents were running high on confidence and managed to keep one step ahead. The won the 5th (and deciding!) set 6/3. Fantastic tennis to finish of a great day of doubles.
Fahey/Virgona (1) bt Watson/Williams 6/1 6/0 6/0
Booth/Chapman (4) bt Lyons/Male (5) 2/6 6/1 6/2 6/4
Chisholm/Sayers (2) bt Douglas/Wright 6/1 6/1 4/6 6/0
Matthews/Smith (3) bt Lumley/Medlow (6) 4/6 4/6 6/1 6/0 6/3
Thursday 21st : All the top seeds were in action today and they didn’t disappoint! The matches were tight and in some cases the scoreline doesn’t quite represent how close they were. The top 4 have worked their way through to the semi-finals on Saturday 23rd Novemeber. The line up will see Bryn Sayers (current British Open holder) against Rob Fahey (World Champion) in a re-run of last year’s final at 2pm. The following semi-final (at 4pm) will see Tim Chisholm and Steve Virgona battle it out for a final spot. Two fantastic matches involving the best players in the world. IRTPA will be using Live Match Commentary for the semi-finals onwards so tune in and get live updates of how the matches play out. Tomorrow (Friday 22nd) sees Quarter-final doubles. If you enjoy hard hitting tennis you won’t want to miss it!
Bryn Sayers (3) bt Ricardo Smith (7) 6/1 6/1 6/1
Rob Fahey (1) bt Kieran Booth (6) 6/4 6/1 6/1
Tim Chisholm (4) bt Chris Chapman (8) 6/3 6/2 6/2
Steve Virgona (2) bt Ben Matthews (5) 6/4 6/3 4/6 6/1
The British Open begins on Sunday 17th November with the singles final being played on Monday 25th November and the doubles final being played on Tuesday 26th November.
The draws are now available. Please click on
The Singles Qualifiers Draw, The Doubles Qualifiers Draw, The Singles Draw, The Doubles Draw
The British Open Singles is the last ranking tournament of the two year cycle leading up to the eliminators for challenging Rob Fahey in Melbourne in May next year. The four players in the eliminators are known and will be Camden Riviere, Steve Virgona, Bryn Sayers and Tim Chisholm but their finish position for their first round eliminator match will not be confirmed until the conclusion of this tournament.
