Brits are in top form at Shrewsbury tournament
Today’s second round action at the M25 Shrewsbury will feature a strong British contingent after wild card Henry Patten led the charge of home players sealing first round victories, defeating No.6 seed David Poljak in three sets, writes Abigail Johnson.
Patten, 25, is a familiar face in Shrewsbury after finishing runner-up at the UK Pro League Finals Week in November. The skilled left-hander came from a set down to upset an opponent ranked 270 spots above him in the current world rankings, closing out the triumph 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4.
“I definitely struggled with serving today – the first few games of the match I was serving great, and then I lost my rhythm a bit,” Patten analysed post-match. “I’d never played [Poljak] before and hadn’t seen him play, either. He’s a tricky player, returns really well, moves well. I was a little bit up and down but I was really happy with the third set, from 4-2 down I actually played really good tennis right to the end.”
Having won his first ITF World Tennis Tour singles title at the end of last year, Patten has hopes of sky-rocketing his ranking during the 2022 season.
“[Poljak]’s ranked in the 400s, and I feel like I could definitely have played better today yet still managed to come out and win,” the current world No.701 said of his latest result. “So that’s really good for the confidence, because a big goal for me is to try and push into the world’s top 500.
“Last year I made some good strides in the rankings and I’m excited. It’s the start of the year, I feel like I’ve got a lot of time to achieve that goal.”
Next up for Patten in Shrewsbury will be Stuart Parker, the world No.500 having edged Patten’s good friend Charles Broom in a tight 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 first round encounter.
Tuesday also saw big victories for rising youngsters such as unranked 18-year-old Oliver Tarvet, who qualified without dropping a set before claiming an impressive 7-6(1), 6-3 defeat of world No.515 Omni Kumar.
Tarvet’s fellow British teens Felix Gill and Jack Pinnington Jones also won in straight sets, with all four seeded home players – Paul Jubb, Aidan McHugh, Billy Harris and Anton Matusevich – moving safely into the last 16.
Second round action at The Shrewsbury Club kicked off at 10am this morning, with tickets costing £7.50.
