Eden Silva’s one step nearer to gold with another win

Silva, a Wimbledon mixed doubles quarter finalist in 2019, set up an exciting last four clash with Freya Christie on Saturday by beating Emily Appleton 10-6 in a third-set tie-break.

On the men’s side of the event, Giles Hussey and Anton Matusevich both progressed to the semi-finals as they secured fine victories in their matches.

Silva, from Essex, won the opening set 6-3 before Appleton, who finished top of the women’s qualifying rankings in the UK Pro League, took the second 7-5 to level the match.

“I’m really happy to get through to the semis,” said Silva, shortly after completing victory. “A day off tomorrow, so I’ll recover a little bit, do some training and then hopefully be ready to go on Saturday.”

She added: “It was a tough battle out there. I knew when I was going to be playing Emily that it was going to be a tough match, so I was expecting that.

“I’ve had a good couple of matches before this as well, so I think my level improved today. It was a much better match than the other two.

“It was a tough fight. I knew in the tie break as well that every point matters, so I think I just really fought out there and gave it my best and came out with the win, so I’m happy with that.” Silva, whose current world ranking is 462, is enjoying her week in Shropshire and playing at The Shrewsbury Club once again.

“I really like it,” she said. “It’s a really nice club. I’m staying with a family who are members of this club and they’re lovely, so it’s nice to be able to stay somewhere where you feel comfortable and at home, especially when you’re travelling so much, so that’s been a great help. I love Shrewsbury.”

Silva, who received a wild card to take part in this event, also highlighted the support the players are receiving this week from spectators watching the matches from court-side stands.

“It makes a huge difference when you’ve got people watching and clapping for you,” she insisted. “It adds to the atmosphere and you kind of feed off their energy as well, so it was really nice today to have quite a few people watching.”

Christie, who describes The Shrewsbury Club as one of her favourite places to play, secured a last four meeting with Silva by beating Katarina Stresnakova 6-2, 6-4.

Christie already has plenty of good memories of the Sundorne Road venue after reaching the singles final of an ITF event in 2015 before winning a doubles title in Shrewsbury two years later.

In yesterday’s men’s quarter finals, Hussey, who won his first professional tournament last month, an ITF World Tennis Tour event in Mexico, advanced to the semi-finals with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Billy Harris.

Hussey will next face Matusevich after he impressively overcame the challenge of Julian Cash, who led the way in the UK Pro League men’s qualifying rankings, 6-4, 6-2.

Today’s matches at The Shrewsbury Club start at noon with the day’s opening quarter final on Court 1 between Beth Grey and Lauryn John-Baptiste getting under way from 1.30pm. That will be followed by Lily Miyazaki facing Sonay Kartal.

The first of the day’s men’s quarter finals sees Henry Patten take on Sean Hodkin, who replaced James Ward in the last eight line up after Ward, a member of Great Britain’s winning Davis Cup team in 2015, had to withdraw owing to an injury he sustained during his second group match against Matusevich on Wednesday night.

The final match of the day, from 7pm, will be between Jay Clarke, the highest-ranked player in this week’s men’s event, and Dan Cox.

Admission to today’s matches is £5 with tickets available at worldtennistourshrewsbury.com/tickets-and-events/

Pictured: Eden Silva and Giles Hussey both progressed to the semi-finals of UK Pro League Finals Week at The Shrewsbury Club yesterday. Pictures: Richard Dawson Photography.