MAGNIFICENT MATUSEVICH is the UKPL 2021 Champion | UKPL Men’s Final Highlights
Anton Matusevich wins the UKPL 2021!
20 straight UKPL match wins, not a set dropped in the whole week. This young man has a bright future! Watch the highlights of the UKPL men’s final against Henry Patten, that he won 6-2. 6-4
Share this article
18th November, 2021
Sonay Kartal is the UKPL 2021 Champion | UKPL Women’s Final Highlights
Sonay Kartal wins the UKPL 2021! Only losing to Katie Stresnakova in the pool stage, she edged her way into the knockout stages, beating wildcard Lily Miyazaki, 774 spots above her in the WTA rankings, before prevailing on Beth Grey in one of the most intense matches of the year. In a near faultless performance, Kartal dropped just one game as she beat Christie 6-0, 6-1 in just over an hour to capture the title!
Share this article
17th November, 2021
Anton Matusevich wins UK Pro League title
Anton Matusevich admits practice made perfect after waltzing to the UK Pro League title without dropping a set.
Photo: Ian Hall
Sevenoaks star Matusevich, 20, breezed past Henry Patten 6-2, 6-4 in Sunday’s men’s final to solidify his reputation as one of British tennis’ hottest young prospects.
The world No.422 racked up a stunning first serve win percentage of 93 per cent to blow away Patten – ranked over 300 places below him – in the Shrewsbury Club showpiece.
Matusevich has been striving to improve his service games back home and reckons focussing on his all-important ‘third ball’ held the key to his dominance.
Matusevich, who did not drop a set in Finals Week and claimed a lucrative £15,000 prize pot for clinching the crown, said:
“I’m very pleased with that, as that second set was getting heated.
“Me and my coaches back at home have worked a lot on my third ball – the shot after the serve. My serve is not like Nick Kyrgios and I don’t really hit too many aces, but it’s the shot behind it that’s very important.
“We’ve worked a lot on that in the past – and it’s proven to be very key here.
“I didn’t want to be on the court [in the second set] and he was hitting some really good shots. I’m just happy to get through it as I got quite lucky at 4-4.
“I just wanted to get some matches in this week and really improve my game – you’re guaranteed five matches win or lose, and I’m very happy to come out on top.
“Tennis is a very expensive sport with the travelling – so I’d like to say a very big thanks to everyone here. The crowd were really good today – and that was very nice on a Sunday.”
Nine individual qualifying weeks culminated in the eagerly-anticipated UK Pro League Finals Week, where the highest-ranked stars descended on Shropshire to duel it out for the men’s and women’s trophies.
And as the Premier League of British tennis – and the only domestic competition for the country’s top professionals – with over half a million pounds of prize money up for grabs across the season, all the action was broadcast live on BT Sport, The Tennis Channel and UKproleague.tv, with Finals Week also broadcast live on free to air channel FreeSports (Freeview Channel 64 / Sky Channel 422 / Virgin Channel 553 / BT TV Channel 64 / TalkTalk Channel 64). Week 2 and 3 winner Matusevich did not lose a match in the format since the Week 1 semi-finals and outlined his superiority in style on Sunday.
After beating Giles Hussey in straight sets in Saturday’s semi-final, he carried on where he left off by swatting aside Patten in rapid time to take the first set.
And despite a valiant Patten rally, the Suffolk ace was unable to turn the tables as Matusevich held his nerve to cruise over the line.
Photo: Ian Hall
Patten was crowned Week 4 winner of the UK Pro League and says the format can lay the foundations for a successful stint on the international tour.
The 25-year-old, who toppled former Wimbledon star Dan Cox in his semi-final, said:
“It’s been a successful week.
“I’ve really enjoyed every second of it and every week I’ve played – I want to say a massive thank you to the whole team who put these events on.
“All the players love them – it’s an amazing opportunity for us and helps us fund our careers, so it’s amazing.
“Anton is pretty good. I knew that going into it and that I’d have to play at my best to have a chance. I didn’t quite do that, but he played a fantastic match.
“I’ll go home for a few days then get back to training, before travelling to Greece in a couple of weeks – which I’m looking forward to.”
With a prize fund of around £500k and Broadcast live on BT Sport, The Tennis Channel and UKproleague.tv, the UK Pro League is the only place where the British player group come together to compete across the full year.
Share this article
17th November, 2021
Stresnakova gets it done in straight sets | UKPL Finals | Day 3
At their third encounter in the UKPL Season, Katie Stresnakova clinches her first victory over Kartal in the last match of the pool stages. Katie Stresnakova won the match 6-1, 7-5
Share this article
17th November, 2021
NEXT LEVEL TENNIS! Billy Harris vs Dan Cox 13-11 tie-break| UKPL Finals 2021
Quite a night at the Shrewsbury Club with Billy Harris and Dan Cox putting up a show in front of the first live crowd at the UK Pro League. Harris won the match 7-6(11), 6-4.
Share this article
16th November, 2021
Sonay Kartal stunning run at the UK Pro League
Superstar Sonay Kartal hopes to continue her stunning run of form after triumphing in the UK Pro League Finals Week at the Shrewsbury Club against Freya Christie.
In a near faultless performance, Kartal dropped just one game as she beat Christie – an opponent over 300 places above her in the world rankings – 6-0, 6-1 in just over an hour to capture the title and a lucrative £15,000 prize.
Kartal, 20, was one of the pre-tournament favourites having prevailed in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 of the UK Pro League, as well as winning the biggest title of her career to date at the W15 event in Antalya just a few weeks ago.
It has been a remarkable run of form for the south coast star – who was off court earlier in the year due to injury – but she did not have it all her own way in Shrewsbury this week.
A pool stage loss to Katie Stresnakova meant she only just edged her way into the knockout stages, though she beat Japanese wildcard Lily Miyazaki – an opponent 774 spots above her in the WTA rankings – before beating Beth Grey in yesterday’s semi-final.
Photo: Ian Hall
The world No.989 continued to play tennis well above her ranking today, beating world No.628 Christie to win the second UK Pro League title, following in US Open champion Emma Raducanu’s 2020 footsteps.
Kartal was in fact a contemporary of Raducanu as a junior, beating her in six of their 11 meetings with clips of the two playing each other going viral after Raducanu’s US Open triumph.
Afterwards, she revealed that she had not hit the ball anywhere near as well during practice sessions building earlier today, saying: “I didn’t practice too well earlier so I was a little bit nervous coming out, but I just tried to forget the occasion and play my own game. I’ve had a lot of injuries in the past so I’ve really capitalised on the Pro League. You’re guaranteed five matches so the format for me has been really beneficial, and it’s something that I’m definitely going to continue on next year. I’m very grateful for all that’s been put on this year.
The highlights for me have been that I’ve managed to keep a pretty consistent game throughout this whole week. I did lose to Katie in the last round of the groups but I think I’ve taken some good match practice.
I’m off to Tunisia next week, so I’m really going to try and continue this form and bring it out there.”
Nine individual qualifying weeks across the 2021 season and around the UK had led to this week’s finals week in Shrewsbury, with nine automatic qualifiers and three wildcards in both the men’s and women’s draws.And as the Premier League of British tennis – and the only domestic competition for the country’s top professionals – with over half a million pounds of prize money up for grabs across the season, all the action was broadcast live on BT Sport, The Tennis Channel and UKproleague.tv, with Finals Week also broadcast live on free to air channel FreeSports (Freeview Channel 64 / Sky Channel 422 / Virgin Channel 553 / BT TV Channel 64 / TalkTalk Channel 64).
It was a disappointing afternoon for Christie, who could only hold on to her serve once and missed opportunities to break Kartal in the final game of the match.
However, having qualified in fifth position for Finals Week, there were still plenty of positives for her to take.
Photo: Ian Hall
She said: “I think I’ve got to take a lot of positives from this week. It’s been a great week for me. I always love playing in Shrewsbury and I appreciate the crowd support. I really appreciate everyone who came out today.
“I’m hoping to do one or two more tournaments, hopefully some 25K events, but that just depends on scheduling. This might be the last tournament of the year for me.
“I think credit to Sonay today – I think she missed about one ball the whole match, so well played. I’ll have to take that one on the chin.”
By Sportsbeat
Share this article
15th November, 2021
A conversation with: Sultan Gangji
Former ITF umpire Sultan Gangji has been a key member of the UK Pro League family in his role as tournament referee and here we chat about his 40 years in tennis, some of his most contentious moments in the chair and why the UK Pro League has become his new passion.
Photo: Ian Hall
How did you get into umpiring?
It started it as a hobby nearly 40 years ago. It all started at a club called Cumberland in Hampstead, North-West London and two guys called Bjorn Borg and Vitas Gerulaitis were preparing for Wimbledon. One year at university I was asked by the club chairman there: “Can somebody look after Borg and help him out and make sure they don’t go on the grass court before and after and make sure their lunch is organised?”
So I volunteered and the next thing you know I was getting involved and then six months later we had what was then the satellite circuit, it was something different and I wanted to try my hand at umpiring.
What was your path into umpiring?
I did my qualifications, worked my way up and at the end of 1989 I became one of the first six chair umpires to be chosen by the ITF to go around the world to be a chair umpire. I had the most amazing career around the world – from starting off in the Australian Open, then the French Open, then Wimbledon, Queen’s Club and the US Open. In between, I did all the Davis Cup ties. It was a really exciting venture, I did that for seven years.
Tell us about your experience as umpire at the 1992 Wimbledon Ladies Final?
I was meant to be doing the men’s singles final that year, but I was switched to the Ladies Final between Steffi Graf and Monica Seles and right away I knew this could be tricky. Seles had caused a lot of grief because some of the players like Martin Navratilova were complaining that she was making too much grunting and screaming.
Alan Mills was a Wimbledon referee then and I spoke to him about Rule 25 and how grunting could put the opponent off.
So the plan was to try and stop her grunting?
I’m a nice guy, I like to educate people, I’m a teacher at heart – so I said the first time she does it I’m going to tell her: “Monica in my opinion you’re being deliberate by making noise, please cut it out,” I’m going to do that discreetly.
What happened after the match?
The next day The Sun and The Mirror newspapers had ‘the umpire stops Monica Seles from grunting’. So there was a few different articles that I’ve got at home. It was uncomfortable, but I think it was the right thing to do for tennis.
Who were your favourite players to officiate?
I dealt with John McEnroe a lot but we got on really well since the start of my career and then I became known as Mr McEnroe’s umpire because he liked me and he called me Mr Zanzibar. He heard I came from Zanzibar and while he didn’t always like umpires McEnroe would often say I was his favourite. I didn’t know it when I was umpiring by the way because he didn’t always seem to like me, but we are good friends now.
Tell us about your work with the UK Pro League?
I was asked to get involved and I enjoy being the referee for this event. It is so important for British players to have a tournament they can earn money from and get match practice in before they go off to try and get ranking points and so many of the players who have done well in the UK Pro League have enjoyed good results after their weeks with us.
When you saw Emma Raducanu win the UK Pro League last year, were you convinced she was destined for the top?
We all felt that she had potential, I looked at her and saw good players around her and thought she’s got potential. I guessed she would have got top 100 and I was excited for her, that would be a terrific achievement. But what she’s done is mind boggling and a dream come true. Never in the history of any sport, let alone tennis. For all the girls at the UK Pro League it’s like, if she can do it, why not me? And there is no doubt the UK Pro League helped her massively last year.
Anton Matusevich and Sonay Kartal win the UK Pro League 2021
Anton Matusevich and Sonay Kartal ran out comfortable winners in the culmination of 10 weeks of UK Pro League tennis.
Kartal thrashes Christie in the final
In the women’s competition it was Sonay who ran away with the final, dominating from start to finish. The first set was an outstanding display of tennis as she broke serve 3 times to take the set 6-0. Even though Freya Christie was able to get a slight foothold in the second set, quickly the power and accuracy of Kartal’s relentless ground strokes stubbed out any chance of an unlikely comeback. Whilst Kartal lost one of her group games earlier in the week, she has looked a class above the rest of the field. Adding to her three-peat earlier in the season, Kartal joins Emma Raducanu in a extremely elite group as female UK Pro League winners.
Here she is, Sonay Kartal is your UK Pro League 2021 Champion! 🏆🍍
A statement victory from the 20 year-old in the final, winning 6-0, 6-1 vs Christie 🔥
“I tried to forget the occasion and just play my own game. have had a lot of injuries in the past so I have really capitalised on the UK Pro League, you are guaranteed 5 matches so the format for me is really beneficial. It’s something that I will continue on next year. I have managed to keep a consistent game all week and I am off to Tunisia next week so I am hoping to take this form out there.”
After the match runner-up Freya Christie said:
“I think credit to Sonay, I think she missed one ball the whole match so well played. I will have to take this one on the chin. It has been a great week for me and I appreciate the crowd and I had a corner there cheering me on. This might be the last tournament of the year for me it might not.”
Anton Matusevich wins the UK Pro League without dropping a set
Anton Matusevich won the men’s Golden Pineapple trophy after a stellar performance topped an almost flawless week at the Shrewsbury Club.
He was only broken twice in the whole week and his first set performance was truly unstoppable. Henry Patten was able to grow in the second set but in truth there was only ever one winner. Matusevich was magnificent throughout as he stormed to a comprehensive victory and claimed the £15,000 prize money. The British No.11 made it 20 UK Pro League victories in a row as he brushed the challenge of Henry Patten aside. All week Matusevich’s serving has been untouchable and it was the case here as he won 93% of the points where he landed his first serve.The newly crowned UK Pro League champion Anton Matusevich had this to say:
I’m really pleased, firstly I’d like to congratulate Henry, that second set was getting heated. I’m happy to get through it, the 4-4 game I got a bit lucky. You’re guaranteed 5 matches here win or lost but I am very happy to have come out on top.
Me and my coaches have worked a lot on the 3rd shot, I don’t hit too many aces but it’s the shot behind it that’s really important. We have worked on it a lot and it has proved key.
Tennis is a very expensive sport and it’s been awesome. Thank you to the crowd you have been good, very nice on a Sunday.
It was a disappointing end to Henry Patten’s week but he will take plenty of positive things from his time in Shrewsbury. He said after the match:
“I’ve really enjoyed every second of it. I have enjoyed every week I have played in. A massive thank you to everyone who helps put these events on, all the players love them. It’s an amazing opportunity for us and it helps us fund our career.”
“It (The second set) was better than the first set! Anton is pretty good, I knew that going into it and I knew that I had to play at my best to have a chance and I didn’t quite do that.”
Share this article
14th November, 2021
Finals Preview: Who will lift the Golden Pineapples?
After 10 weeks of enthralling action, the finals of the UK Pro League 2021 are here. Who will come out on top and join Emma Raducanu and Liam Broady as champions and lift the Golden Pineapples.
Matusevich vs Patten (14:00)
In the men’s final two unbeaten players will fight it out in front of a sold out Shrewsbury Club. Henry Patten came into finals week of the back of his first win at the ITF level in the US. The 25-year-old defeated Dan Cox in sublime style in the semi-final. His unstoppable left-handed ground strokes have earned him 4 straight wins this week and if he makes it 5 he will be crowned champion of the UK Pro League.
Anton Matusevich has been the front runner all week and said it himself that his goal was the final. He is there now but will want to go one step further and win the tournament. The British No.11 has been untouchable so far and got to the final without dropping a set all week. He brushed aside both Julian Cash and Giles Hussey on his way to the final.
The finalists have played twice this year, both matches in Week 3 including the final. Matusevich came out better off in both matches to secure the week 3 crown but Patten will be looking for revenge in Shrewsbury.
Kartal vs Christie (15:30)
Two stalwarts of the UK Pro League this year clash in the hotly anticipate final of the women’s competition.
Sonay Kartal (Below) won three weeks in a row as she hit red-hot form midway through the 10-weeks of the Pro League this year. Her path to the final was blocked by two wild cards in Beth Grey and Lily Miyazaki with a massive gap in WTA ranking in both matches. Other players would have been intimidated by the names but Sonay was able to sweep through the competition and secure her place in the final.
Freya Christie (Below) qualified in 5th place after consistently challenging throughout the Pro League. At a venue that she describes as “Almost a second home’ Christie has been brilliant all week. Since losing to Lily Miyazaki (Who Sonay Kartal defeated in the quarter-finals) in the group stage, Christie has not put a foot wrong as she dumped Katie Stresnakova and wildcard entree Eden Silva out of the competition.
The two have not faced off this year but came close in Week 3 where Sonay withdrew from their 3rd/4th playoff match. It promises to be a hotly contested match between two players in some of the best form of their lives.
You can watch the finals and all other matches on the Tennis Channel, BT Sport Extra, UK Pro League TV and FreeSports.
FreeSports content is only available to view in the UK. The channel can be viewed on many different TV platforms including Sky TV (channel 422), Freeview (channel 64), Virgin (channel 553), Freesat (channel 252), TalkTalk TV (channel 64) and BT TV (channel 64).
Share this article
14th November, 2021
INTENSE match between Silva and Appleton | UKPL Finals | Quarter-finals
Eden Silva and Emily Appleton put up a show in the first quarter-finals of the day, with a high level of intensity! Silva won the match 6-3, 7-5, 10-6