Open

I paid my first visit to the Nottingham Open tennis tournament, so it was an prompt start to get there for start of play at 11:00. Thankfully the trains were (at that point) running smoothly, and then it was an easy tram ride from right outside the station to the Nottingham Tennis Centre, next to the university campus.

It was a WTA250 and ATP Challenger tour event, which means for the women it was higher ranked (mainly players world-ranked 20-100) while for the men it was on a par with the Ilkley Open that I attended last week (world-ranking 100+). In practical terms this meant that the women’s quarter-finals were the prestige fixtures and were all on Centre Court, while the men’s semi-finals and doubles matches were on two outside courts.

The site has clearly had a lot of investment from the Lawn Tennis Association, with lots lot indoor courts, a couple of air domes and some new padel courts alongside the grass courts. It did feel like there was a lot more space to move around than at Ilkley. It is a city-based location though, sandwiched between a busy road and tramline on one side, and train line on the other, so not as tranquil.

I had a seat in the back row of the west stand of Centre Court. I like having an elevated view, and the bonus was I could turn and see play on the other two courts. 

So the quarter-final lineup was:

Laylah Fernandez v Dayana Yastremska
Magda Linette v Clara Tauson
McCartney Kessler v Katie Boulter
Rebecca Sramkova v Linda Noskova

Match of the day (main image) was Kessler v Boulter, both in terms of the level and competitiveness of the tennis, but also the crowd interest in British favourite Katie Boulter. It went to three sets, with momentum shifting several times. Boulter was 4-2 up in the final set, but it was the rising American star Kessler that won the last four games to win the match.

As expected, it was a very hot day, but there was quite a lot of high level cloud, and a bit of a breeze in the back row, so a lot more bearable than it might have been. There were plenty of water refill spots on site and I kept my sun block topped up. I’m sure conditions were very challenging on court though.

A long day, including more than seven hours of travel, but enjoyable. I’ll be able to watch how the tournament concludes over the weekend on iPlayer.