$10,000 Chiswick - singles presentation - Tara Moore (champion), Harriet Grainger (ITF) & Amy Bowtell (runner-up)
Within the London Borough of Hounslow, the large suburb of Chiswick, located on a meander of the River Thames, was host to a women’s tournament on the ITF Pro Circuit for the very first time.
The venue for this tournament in West London was the Esporta Chiswick Riverside H&RC Club and was played alongside a men’s tournament which was also making a first ITF Pro Circuit appearance in this part of the English capital.
On Saturday July 31st a British winner in the doubles final was inevitable as the No. 1 seeds, Britain’s Jocelyn Rae and her Australian partner Emelyn Starr took on the third seeded all-British pairing of Anna Fitzpatrick and Jade Windley. With a 61 64 triumph the title went the way of the top seeds for what was their second title won together from four finals contested over the past two years.
Another British winner followed in the Sunday August 1st climax to this tournament as the watching crowd saw British 17-year old Tara Moore, just days short of her 18th birthday and seeded eighth, win a career second singles title on the ITF Pro Circuit from three final appearances; all in Great Britain. This title, her first of 2010 came in a straight sets victory over her younger Irish opponent, Amy Bowtell, who was competing in her very first ITF Pro Circuit final.
Unranked 16-year old Bowtell, a regular in the Irish Fed Cup team since making her cup debut in April 2009, had already defeated two highly seeded players in the No. 2 seed in round two and the No. 3 seed in the semis en route to the final but those two victories over seeded opposition did little however to unsettle Moore and despite the final being briefly interrupted by a rain delay with Moore up 3-love in the opening set, this was a more comfortable victory than the final 63 64 score line might suggest.
Bowtell though can look back on her performances over the course of the week with great pride, especially given that she had reached the final despite this being her first ever appearance in the main draw of an ITF Pro Circuit tournament. Her only previous experiences of life on the circuit had been of three defeats in qualifying events. Moore, ranked at 590 as the week started, will now be hoping to push on from here as she looks to regain her place in the WTA Top 500.
At the conclusion of the final the ITF Pro Circuits’ Harriet Grainger was on hand to present the finalists with their prize money cheques.