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16/12/2019
Boston Open 2019

Boston Open 2019

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Boston Open 2019
Men's Draw
13-16 Dec
Boston, England, $5k

ROUND TWO
  13
DEC
QUARTERS
  14
DEC
SEMIS
  15
DEC
FINAL
 16
DEC

Robert Downer {1}
11/3, 11/9, 4/11, 11/6 (24m)
Ian Cox

Robert Downer
8/11, 11/8, 11/7, 11/4 (45m)
Ben Smith
Ben Smith
11/9, 11/5, 11/5 (34m)
Ben Sockett
Ben Smith
11/4, 11/5, 11/2 (31m)
Joe Lee
Ben Smith
11/5, 11/5, 11/6 (24m)
Nick Ratnarajah
Kyle Finch
6/11, 11/7, 11/2, 11/2 (31m)
Nick Mulvey {3/4}
Kyle Finch
13/15, 11/5, 11/5, 11/8 (48m)
Ben Sockett
Ben Sockett
6/11, 11/7, 11/2, 11/2 (31m)
Ziad Salam
Mark Fuller {3/4}
11/3, 11/7, 11/8 (27m)
Jack Mitterer
Mark Fuller
11/7, 11/9, 10/12, 11/3 (57m)
Joe Lee
Joe Lee
11/8, 11/8, 11/6 (39m)
Tom Walsh
Joe Lee
8/11, 11/2, 11/4, 11/2 (50m)
Jared Carter {5/8}
Adam Turner {5/8}
11/8, 11/8, 11/8 (32m)
Jamie Goodrich
Adam Turner
11/7, 8/11, 11/6, 11/6 (41m)
Tom Walsh
Phil Nightingale
11/6, 11/5, 11/4 (29m)
Tom Walsh {2}

ROUND ONE

Ian Cox bt Paul Warner 11/1, 13/11, 11/8 (22m)
Nick Ratnarajah bt Muhammad Fahran {5/8} (W/O)
Ben Smith bt Oscar Hill 11/2, 11/8, 11/3 (21m)
Jack Mitterer bt Tom Miller 11/2, 11/8, 11/5 (14m)
Kyle Finch bt Thomas Ramsey 11/4, 11/2, 11/1 (13m)
Joe Lee bt Scott Drewery 11/5, 11/5, 11/1 (22m)
Jared Carter {5/8} bt Josh Inman 11/4, 11/6, 11/6 (16m)
Adam Turner {5/8} bt James Ryan 11/4, 11/3, 11/4 (18m)
Jamie Goodrich bt Oliver Ramsey 11/4, 11/1, 11/5 (15m)
Phil Nightingale bt Muhammad Abdul Qadir (W/O)

Boston Open 2019
Women's Draw
13-16 Dec
Boston, England, $5k

ROUND TWO
  13
DEC
QUARTERS
  14
DEC
SEMIS
  15
DEC
FINAL
 16
DEC

Sarah-Jane Perry {1}
11/4, 11/3, 11/6 (12m)
Charlotte Kirkwood

Sarah-Jane Perry
11/7, 11/8, 11/7 (25m)
Lucy Beecroft
Sarah-Jane Perry
5/11, 11/7, 11/8, 11/8 (40m)
Julianne Courtice
Sarah-Jane Perry
8/11, 7/11, 11/3, 11/5, 11/7 (53m)
Millie Tomlinson
Lily Taylor {5/8}
12/10, 6/11, 11/3, 11/7 (40m)
Lucy Beecroft
Julianne Courtice {5/8}
11/8, 11/4, 11/5 (15m)
Lea Barbeau
Julianne Courtice
11/9, 11/8, 11/7 (27m)
Hollie Naughton
Hollie Naughton {3/4}
11/4, 11/3, 11/3 (15m)
Emma Bartley
Tinne Gilis {3/4}
11/3, 11/2, 11/2 (18m)
Ellie White
Tinne Gilis
8/11, 11/9, 11/9, 11/9 (47m)
Coline Aumard
Tinne Gilis
11/6, 11/8, 11/5 (33m)
Millie Tomlinson
Coline Aumard {5/8}
11/2, 11/2 11/3  (16m)
Olivia Gow
Alice Green
11/3, 11/8, 11/6 (23m)
Haley Mendez {5/8}
Alice Green
11/5, 11/6, 11/7 (26m)
Millie Tomlinson
Celine Walser
11/7, 11/9, 11/6 (21m)
Millie Tomlinson {2}

ROUND ONE

Charlotte Kirkwood bt Sophie O'Rourke 11/4, 9/8 retired (12m)
Olivia Gow bt Risa Sugimoto (W/O)
Lucy Beecroft bt Poppie Jaram 11/4, 11/1, 11/5 (13m)
Lea Barbeau bt Katie Cox 11/7, 3/11, 9/11, 11/8, 11/1 (34m)
Emma Bartley bt Alexandra Bardac 11/6, 11/1, 11/6 (18m)
Ellie White bt Sofia Aiero Pita 11/6, 11/7, 11/3 (19m)
Alice Green bt Fran Wallis 11/4, 11/5, 11/6 (17m)
Celine Walser bt Katie Wells 11/13, 5/11, 11/7, 13/11, 11/3 (47m)

REPORTS

Sunday 15/12 Reports and Pictures

Finalists

Sarah Jane and Joe 2019 Winners
Women’s Final
Sarah-Jane Perry {1} bt Millie Tomlinson {2} 8/11, 7/11, 11/3, 11/5, 11/7 (53m)

The women’s final, much like the women’s event as a whole, was the strongest in the Boston Open’s 23-year history. With world #8 and British #1 Sarah-Jane Perry taking on world #25 and defending champion Millie Tomlinson, the crowd that assembled was the biggest the tournament had attracted on its finals day for many years.

Hopes were high for a close and entertaining showpiece and that is exactly what the spectators got. Tomlinson played excellently to win the first two sets, while Perry was often frustrated as the referee was frequently called upon to make decisions – far more so than in the men’s final that followed. There was perhaps a clash of styles between this particular pair of players.

But after falling to her knees in frustration at the end of the second game, Perry began her fightback. “Come on!” she shouted after taking her first point of the third set. Spurred on, she raced into a 5/1 lead and didn’t look back from there. The top seed powered through the next two sets to win the final and deny Millie Tomlinson a sixth consecutive Boston Open title.

Men’s Final
Joe Lee bt Ben Smith 11/4, 11/5, 11/2 (31m)

The men’s final was expected to be a less tight affair than the women’s before it, and so it proved. 17-year-old Ben Smith had upset the seedings to become the second young player from Lincolnshire to make a Boston Open final in as many years, following in the footsteps of Harry Falconer in 2018.

While his opponent Joe Lee was also unseeded in this competition, that belied the fact that he is a former world #29 on his way back from surgery.

It briefly looked as though we might be in for a four-set match at the very least when Smith took a 4/1 lead in the second game. But Lee responded well and won seven consecutive points. He never looked back and won his first Boston Open title.
Saturday 4/12 Reports and Pictures

Coline Aumard

Sarah Jane Perry & Julianne Courtice

Millie Tomlinson & Haley Mendez

Joe Lee & Mark Fuller

Ben Smith & Robert Downer

Tom Walsh & Joe Lee
Courtesy of
Patrick Hildred

Women’s Quarter Finals
Saturday began with the women’s quarter finals. Sarah-Jane Perry was first to seal her place in the semis, swiftly followed by Julianne Courtice who knocked out a higher-ranked seed in Hollie Naughton. Millie Tomlinson continued her run of not losing a set, let alone a match, at the Boston Open since 2015 (despite appearing in every tournament since) with a 3-0 victory over Haley Mendez in what was a repeat of last year’s final. Tinne Gilis was the last name into the semi finals, beating Coline Aumard 3-1 in a match in which every game was close.

Women’s Semi Finals
More than 40 people watched Sarah-Jane Perry beat Julianne Courtice in the first of the semi-finals. The top seed will no doubt have been unhappy with her performance in the first set but credit must also go to Courtice, who played Perry when they were juniors and gave her a good run for her money on this occasion. World #25 Millie Tomlinson continued her ultra-consistent form on Boston’s courts, dispatching world #22 Tinne Gilis without so much as a brief wobble.

Men’s Quarter Finals
With the first pair of men’s quarter finals it was difficult to know which glass back to turn your head to.

On one court, Ben Sockett and Kyle Finch each played their part in an excellent contest which began with a 28-point set. Sockett recovered from 10/6 down to force a tiebreak and subsequently ended up having a gameball himself at 13/12 before conceding three consecutive points. Nevertheless, he didn’t let his head drop and won the next three games.

At the same time, on the court opposite, we were treated to a fiery encounter between Robert Downer and Ben Smith. Playing in his home county, the unseeded Smith played very well to produce the biggest upset of the competition and knock out the top seed – even after losing the first game.

Joe Lee became the third unseeded semi-finalist in the men’s draw with a win against Mark Fuller that took just shy of an hour, before second seed Tom Walsh progressed in four sets against Adam Turner.

Men’s Semi Finals
Ben Smith continued his impressive performance levels through the competition so far with a straight sets win against Ben Sockett. It was in the second half of each game that Smith put together the winning runs that made the difference. Joe Lee also made the final without too much trouble, defeating second seed Tom Walsh in three.
 

Friday 13/12 Reports and Pictures


Celine Walser & Katie Wells

Crowds in the Foyer

Hayley Mendez & Alice Green

Joe Lee

Joe Lee & Scott Drewery

Jamie Goodrich & Adam Turner
Courtesy of
Patrick Hildred

Men’s 1st Round
Due to the highest number of entries in many years, the 23rd edition of the Boston Open began at lunchtime on Friday. The men’s first round was a very straightforward affair - with every match in the round won in straight sets. The first of the ten matches played, between Ian Cox and Paul Warner, turned out to be the joint longest at 22 minutes.

Men’s 2nd Round
The men’s second round overlapped with the women’s first round, meaning there were often three matches taking place simultaneously – leaving little downtime for the team of three referees! Top seed Robert Downer progressed to the quarters despite dropping the third set of his match. Former world #29 Joe Lee also secured his passage into the final eight by knocking out one of the seeds. One other upset saw 3/4 seed Nick Mulvey knocked out by Kyle Finch. Mulvey suffered an injury in the first set. He had already raced into enough of a lead to see that game out, but not the ones that followed.

Women’s 1st Round
Round one was more eventful in the women’s draw than in the men’s. It included a walkover, a retirement and two five-setters. Sophie O’Rourke had to call time on her Boston Open appearance in the second set of her match against Charlotte Kirkwood due to illness, having been suffering from a nasty cold this week. The round finished with a stonking encounter between Celine Walser and Lincolnshire’s Katie Wells. The 19-year-old from Horncastle let a two-set lead slip and couldn’t recover in the fifth and final game after losing the fourth on a tiebreak.

Women’s 2nd Round
As the last of Friday’s action was finishing up in the men’s event, it was the women’s turn to take centre stage once again. Lucy Beecroft and Lily Taylor were first up. Their match wasn’t on either of the two glass back courts – which was a shame – as they slugged it out for four sets in what was an entertaining match that still drew a healthy line of spectators to the balcony of court two.

While Taylor was defeated, all the other seeds made it through to the quarters. World #8 Sarah-Jane Perry sailed through her first match of the competition. Last year’s runner-up Haley Mendez was last on court at around 9pm, against Alice Green - who she beat in straight sets.