Teenage duo create Swiss tennis history
Teenage duo Henry Bernet and Flynn Thomas created a piece of Swiss tennis history last weekend, as both lifted titles on the World Tennis Tour.
Success for Bernet in Sweden, at M25 Falun, and Thomas at the M15 Forbach event in France meant that for the first time since World Tennis Tour records began in 1990, two Swiss men lifted titles in the same week.
It was a particularly significant moment for Thomas, who had never previously won a professional singles title. The 18-year-old overcame one-set deficits three times in his five matches, including against veteran Stefan Seifert in the final, to become the second-youngest Swiss man to triumph on the World Tennis Tour since Stan Wawrinka in 2003.
Former junior No. 1 Bernet is no stranger to the winner’s circle in the senior ranks, and this latest success takes his career tally to four, while his ranking is now back in the Top 500.
View this post on Instagram
Bernet and Thomas are both players to have received financial support through the Grand Slam Player Development Programme in the form of Grand Slam Player Grants.
Grand Slam Player Grants are awarded to talented players from underrepresented and under-resourced nations each year to help with their ongoing development costs.
The grants are funded by the Grand Slam Player Development Programme through the four Grand Slams, but it is World Tennis modelling that determines the players selected. Bernet and Thomas were selected for support and earlier this year each received grants of $25,000.
Elsewhere on the World Tennis Tour, another former leading junior, Gerard Campana Lee, tasted success. The 21-year-old beat Sander Jong in the final at M25 Sabadell, to lift his second title at this level
A full list of results from the World Tennis Tour can be found here