Young guns on the rise at Ladies British Open
Seeds progress through to semi finals unscathed
The early rounds of the 2025 Ladies British Open have taken place at the Seacourt Tennis Club from Wednesday to Friday, with a new cohort of young players pushing the seeded players in the quarter finals, ahead of the semi finals on the weekend.
The standout performers in the early stages were the Wellington duo of Georgia Toosey and Lydia Compton-Burnett. Both were fresh from the National Schoolgirls Rackets finals, where Toosey won the U16’s draw and Compton-Burnett was runner up in the U18’s draw. They immediately brought their form to the real tennis court too, with Toosey defeating Holyport’s Lucie Grosset in the first match on Wednesday evening, overcoming an eight point deficit on handicap ratings. Not to be outdone, Compton-Burnett defeated Leamington’s Rachel Hollington in straight sets on Thursday, beating a ten point handicap deficit. Both schoolgirls struck the ball very cleanly, never overawed by the match situation nor the odds against them. However both finally came unstuck when running up against the seeds, losing to Alexandra Bryant and Jess Garside respectively; the latter winning her first open singles match for two years. The schoolgirls teamed up to defeat Rosie Law and Sarah Sullivan in the first round of the doubles draw.
In the other half of the draw, Sophia Lewis easily moved past Sarah Sullivan, before encountering Oratory junior Katherine Carney in the round of 16. Lewis was calm and composed in the early stages of the match, an eleven point handicap deficit notwithstanding, moving to a 5-2 lead in the first set. Carney, meanwhile, was trying to channel the recent changes to her game plan but seemed unable to make progress against an opponent who looked completely at home on the difficult court. Carney saved four set points, including one at 5-4 40-0 down with a second serve bobble that rolled around the back penthouse, just falling on the service line to stay good, before watching Lewis’s shot lose the chase. Carney then recovered the set, winning it on her first set point. Lewis regained the momentum again in the second set, this time holding on from start to finish, before Carney’s game finally clicked and she pushed for home in the final set.
Carney went on to play third seed Nicola Doble in the quarter final, and for the bulk of the contest was matching Doble shot for shot. The rallies were long and hard fought, with most games going to deuce or 30-all and very few being won to love. Doble had to draw on all her experience to hold back her younger competitor, as they exchanged games throughout with neither building much of a lead. The exception was a ten minute period at the end of the first set where Doble hit the accelerator, eeking out a couple of quick games to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The second set went to a deciding game, with Doble striking a couple of short chases early on to seal Carney’s fate. Nevertheless, the young Carney should hold her head high, proving to all watching that she will be one to watch at the top of the women’s game in the years to come.
The other seeds had an easier run to the semi finals. Jess Garside continued her strong form by defeating Alexandra Bryant, while Tara Lumley made quick work of Georgie Ingham, who herself had made quick work of Jane Taylor.
In the doubles quarter finals, Doble and Carney teamed up in a tough battle against Compton-Burnett and Toosey, with all three juniors playing well above their level. But the biggest epic of the tournament to date was saved for the last match of the day, finishing close to 11:30 PM. Sophia Lewis and Kureha Yamaguchi battled hard against Alexandra Bryant and Rachel Hollington. Yamaguchi patrolled the front of the court snatching at anything that came in her direction with incredible control of her volley, played with almost a round-arm style. Hollington did well to hold her own in the volley battles with Yamaguchi. Lewis and Bryant were left to play the calm roles at the back of the court for each pair. The whole match was in harmonic balance, neither side having any big runs of momentum longer than their stays at the service end, though Hollington and Bryant has a marginal lead throughout. They scraped through the first set in a deciding game and had a chance to take the match in the second, but for the very short chase when they reached their first match point. Finally, they took it in the third, thrilling the few remaining Seacourt faithful who remained to the very end.
Play continues on Saturday with the semi finals of both the singles doubles competitions. Defending champion Claire Fahey will enter the tournament at the semi final stage, having received a bye owing to a rule that permits byes to the semi final whether the first seed is more than ten points away from the second seed, specific to the Ladies British Open. It will be the last year the rule is in effect, as Fahey will be forced to enter in the quarter finals when the tournament moves to Queen’s in November.
Match results:
Wednesday 6:00 PM: Lucie Grosset lost to Georgia Toosey 5/6 5/6
Wednesday 7:00 PM: Sarah Sullivan lost to Sophia Lewis 1/6 0/6
Thursday 2:00 PM: Lydia Compton Burnett def Rachel Hollington 6/2 6/4
Thursday 3:00 PM: Georgia Toosey lost to Alexandra Bryant (6) 1/6 2/6
Thursday 4:00 PM: Sophia Lewis lost to Katherine Carney 5/6 6/2 3/6
Thursday 5:00 PM: Lydia Compton-Burnett lost to Jess Garside (4) 0/6 1/6
Thursday 6:00 PM: Jane Taylor lost to Georgie Ingham 1/6 0/6
Thursday 7:00 PM: Rosie Law & Sarah Sullivan lost to Lydia Compton-Burnett & Georgia Toosey 0/6 0/6
Thursday 8:00 PM: Sophia Lewis & Kureha Yamaguchi def Jane Taylor & Caroline MacDowell 6/1 6/0
Friday 4:00 PM: Nicola Doble (3) def Katherine Carney 6/2 6/5
Friday 5:00 PM: Alexandra Bryant lost to Jess Garside (4) 1/6 2/6
Friday 6:00 PM: Georgie Ingham lost to Tara Lumley (2) 0/6 0/6
Friday 7:00 PM: Nicola Doble & Katherine Carney (3) def Lydia Compton-Burnett & Georgia Toosey 6/2 6/3
Friday 8:00 PM: Alexandra Bryant & Rachel Hollington (4) def Sophia Lewis & Kureha Yamaguchi 6/5 5/6 6/4
Order of play for Saturday (semi finals):
1:00 PM: Claire Fahey (1) vs Jess Garside (4)
2:00 PM: Nicola Doble (3) vs Tara Lumley (2)
3:00 PM: Nicola Doble & Katherine Carney (3) vs Alex Garside & Jess Garside (2)
4:00 PM: Claire Fahey & Tara Lumley (1) vs Alexandra Bryant & Rachel Hollington (4)