Day five saw the completion of the quarter-finals in both draws with Luke Johnson and Anna Brogan securing their places in Friday’s semis.
Remaining men’s top seed Luke Johnson swept past Patrick Foley 6-3, 6-0 securing a break at the first opportunity in both sets and will now play Harry Wendelken in Friday’s semi-final. After his dramatic win against Billy Harris on Wednesday, UK Pro League debutant Brandon Murphy faces Scotland’s Ewan Moore in the other semi-final tie.
In the women’s draw, fellow Scot Anna Brogan’s fine week continued with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Nadia Rawson, returning after winning her two matches the day before for Loughborough University. Brogan raced into a 4-0 lead and although Rawson held a 40-0 advantage in the next two games she was not able to convert either. Brogan then broke again midway through the second set and now plays Denmark’s Sofia Samavati in what promises to be an intriguing semi-final. Elena Malygina and Joanna Garland will battle for the other place in Saturday’s final.
After their respective defeats in yesterday’s quarter finals, men’s top seed Billy Harris and Tom Hands, who having his best week to date, were both looking to bounce back and secure a chance for 5th spot. Harris was forced to dig deep to hold his first service game but having done so he then started to fire, taking the first set 6-2. The second saw further Harris pressure but Hands hung in and at 6-5 up on serve, forced a set point which he duly snaffled to force a match tie-break. Keeping the momentum going, Hands got an early break and though Harris pegged him back, Hands again forced the advantage to take the match 2-6, 7-5, 10-5.
Week 1 winner Arina Vasilescu brushed aside the disappointment of losing her quarter final on Wednesday and defeated Michelle Dzjachangirova 6- 3, 6- 2. She will play off for 5th place against the winner of tomorrows all GB clash between Rawson and Gillan.
Elsewhere, wins for Adam Jones, Jack Gibbens and Andre Lukosiute have put them in a strong position in the play-off battle to decide the 9th to 12th positions for the week and they were joined by 17-year-old Adeola Greatorex securing a well-deserved first UK Pro League win, 6-0 7-5.
The semi-finals for week 2 will start tomorrow from 11am, live on Tennis Channel, BT Sport and ukpl.tv.
Full Day 5 results
Luke Johnson bt Patrick Foley 6-3, 6-0
Adam Jones bt Samm Butler 6-1, 1-6, 10-8
Anna Brogan bt Nadia Rawson 6-0, 6-2
Adeola Greatorex bt Maddie Brooks 6-0, 7-5
Tom Hands bt Billy Harris 2-6, 7-5, 10-5
Jack Gibbens bt David Fox 7-5, 7-6(1)
Arina Vasilescu bt Michelle Dzjachangirova 6-3, 6-2
Andre Lukosiute bt Soumeya Anne 6-1, 6-0