Boston Open 2018
World top 50 players and #1 seeds Millie Tomlinson and Nathan Lake won the 22nd annual Boston Open 2018 this weekend.
They beat Haley Mendez and Harry Falconer respectively in Sunday's finals.
See all the results, reports and photos from the tournament below.
DAY THREE
Men's final:
Nathan Lake {1} bt Harry Falconer {3/4} 13/11, 11/5, 11/5 (39m)
After appearing as a young child at the Boston Junior Open, Lincolnshire lad Harry Falconer appeared in his first senior Boston Open final against world #49 Nathan Lake. Harry started brightly, taking a 4/0 lead in the first game, but Nathan fought his way back to a tiebreak victory, before dominating the next two games in a final that followed a not too dissimilar pattern to the women's one before it. Nathan won 13/11, 11/5, 11/5 in 39 minutes to win his first Boston Open title.
Women's final:
Millie Tomlinson {1} bt Haley Mendez {2} 19/17, 11/3, 11/3 (36m)
The women's final was the most competitive since 2015, although Millie Tomlinson still hasn't lost a set in Boston since then, as she beat Haley Mendez in straight games to win her fifth consecutive Boston Open crown.
Haley can count herself hard done by not to have taken a game though. She won more points in the first set than three of the previous four runners-up have managed in entire finals against Millie. It was an extraordinary opening game that lasted 21 minutes. It was tight throughout and the players were never separated by more than two points. Both players squandered gameballs, before the top seed eventually won the tiebreak.
The rest of the match was easier for the reigning champion, who didn't drop a point from 6/3 up in either of the next two games against her tired opponent - giving her a 19/7, 11/3, 11/3 win in the final in 36 minutes.
DAY TWO
Men's semi-finals:
Nathan Lake {1} bt Lewis Walters 11/8, 11/5, 11/9 (31m)
Harry Falconer [3/4] bt Nick Wall {2} 4/11, 11/6, 7/11, 11/4, 11/8 (45m)
The first of the men's semi-finals was played at a high tempo with both players covering a lot of ground and retrieving from corner to corner. Lewis Walters's good run came to an end at the hands of Nathan Lake, just under 24 hours after he won the first match of 2018's Open.
Fittingly, the last match of Saturday night was the first five-setter of the tournament. 20 year old Harry Falconer beat 18 year old Nick Wall. Nick had raced into a 10/2 lead in the first, but from the second game onward he was unable to put together a similar run, and Harry made his first Boston Open final after competing in the event for the last five years.
Women's semi-finals:
Millie Tomlinson {1} bt Mari Taylor 11/6, 12/10, 13/11 (18m)
Haley Mendez {2} bt Ciara Richards 11/5, 11/4, 11/6 (16m)
Millie Tomlinson made the final without dropping a set yet again. She beat Mari Taylor, who lost the second game on a tiebreak after winning five successive points - two of them requiring nothing other than her serve - to take an 8/4 lead. With a gameball at 11/10 in the third, Mari almost became the first player to win a set against Millie at the Boston Open since Madeline Perry in the 2015 final - but it wasn't to be as the top seed took the next three points and the match.
Following them on court were Haley Mendez from the USA and Ciara Richards from Wales. In truth, Haley was in front for almost the entire match and simply had too much for her 18 year old opponent. She won 11/5, 11/4, 11/6 to ensure a women's final made up of the top two seeds.
Men's quarter-finals:
Nathan Lake {1} bt Phil Nightingale 11/4, 11/8, 11/8 (31m)
Lewis Walters bt Nick Mulvey {3/4} 11/5, 6/11, 15/13, 11/8 (53m)
Nick Wall {2} bt Patrick O'Sullivan 6/11, 11/8, 11/8, 11/7 (37m)
Harry Falconer {3/4} bt Robert Dadds 10/12, 11/4, 11/7, 11/7 (47m)
After the women's quarters came the men's. Up first, world #49 Nathan Lake against Phil Nightingale. Although the top seed won in straight sets, Phil put in a creditable challenge and led 6/4 and 8/7 in the final two games respectively - Nathan just had enough in the tank to pull through.
Their match was outlasted by the other quarter-final that had begun at the same time. Unseeded Lewis Walters, who had come through a qualifying match the night before, knocked out 3/4 seed Nick Mulvey. Quick starts in the first and fourth games helped Lewis to a 3-1 win in 53 minutes.
No such upsets in the second pair of quarter-finals. Despite a hiccup in the first set, Nick Wall resumed command to progress 3-1 at the expense of Patrick O'Sullivan. Harry Falconer also won through in four against 2015 runner-up Robert Dadds despite defeat in the first game.
Women's quarter-finals:
Mari Taylor bt Charlotte Kirkwood 11/6, 11/5, 11/3 (14m)
Millie Tomlinson {1} bt Catherine Rae 11/5, 11/4, 11/3 (14m)
Haley Mendez {2} bt Katie Wells 11/2, 11/1, 11/5 (16m)
Ciara Richards bt Heidi Albinson 11/4, 11/8, 11/8 (18m)
Day two saw the women's event get underway with two swift victories.
Mari Taylor swept aside Charlotte Kirkwood in straight sets in 14 minutes, while on the glass back opposite top seed Millie Tomlinson began her campaign to try and secure a fifth consecutive Boston Open title with a win in the same time. She beat Catherine Rae 3-0 to make the semis.
Second seed Haley Mendez beat Lincolnshire's Katie Wells without any trouble, while Ciara Richards overcame Heidi Albinson in the most competitive women's quarter-final of the day.
DAY ONE Men's qualifiers:
Lewis Walters bt James Singh 10/12, 11/7, 11/8, 11/5 (37m)
Patrick O'Sullivan bt Craig Valente-Wallace 11/8, 9/11, 11/9, 11/4 (41m)
A reduced number of entries meant only two matches on the first day of this year's Boston Open. They were two qualifiers for tomorrow's men's quarter-finals.
Lewis Walters and James Singh were first on court. James narrowly took the first set of the event, but not the first match, as Lewis controlled the rest of the tie to win 3-1.
Patrick O'Sullivan also won in four against Craig Valente-Wallace, whose fourth appearance at the tournament in as many years was a brief one.
