16 February 2021 | Tennis West

A strong line up of local players hit the courts of the State Tennis Centre last week, competing in the 2021 WA Open Silver AMT.

Noted for its prestige and historic relevance, the first men’s event of the WA Open was held in 1896 with the women’s event commencing a year later in 1897. A stepping stone for many professional and well known players over its 125-year history, previous winners include; Margaret Court, Billie-Jean King, Evonne Goolagong, Ken Rosewall, Frank Sedgeman, Harry Hopman and Lleyton Hewitt.

Joining the long list of impressive names on the George Linwood Perpetual Challenge Cup and off the back of two UTR Pro Tennis Series wins during 2020 was University of Tennessee college graduate and No. 1 seed Scott Jones. Proving his status as one of WA’s leading men, Jones claimed the Men’s Singles Final 6-1, 6-4 over No. 2 seed, Hensman Park TC State League Captain and 2019/2020 Tennis West State League MVP, Zach Itzstein.

Winning the Women’s Singles Final, was No. 1 seed and winner of the 2020 UTR Junior State Performance Championships, Taylah Preston who showed an impressive form to finish 6-1, 6-4 over No. 2 seed, Shanelle Iaconi.

In the Men’s Doubles draw, Scott Jones and Scott Webster (Swanbourne) rallied well in the final against Ethan Cook and Ethan Dunn with a 6-1, 7-5 finish to eventually claim the title.

The Women’s Doubles final saw Lily Fairclough and Shanelle Iaconi dominate the round robin draw, beating Hayley Burton and Anja Dokic 6-0, 6-4 and Alfee Stevens and Alice Stevens 6-1, 6-1.

Tournament Director, Loretta Hughes says that despite the absence of international players, this year’s WA Open remained a successful event.

“It was wonderful to see such a wonderful showcase of local WA talent out on court throughout the week,’

‘Whilst it was disappointing to not have our interstate and international players competing in this year’s WA Open, it was a great opportunity for local players to compete for both ranking points and prize money,’ Hughes said.

A total of 68 players competed in the four events of the WA Open, including the men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles and women’s doubles draws. Attracting a large entry list, the men’s singles event required a qualifying round be played in order for the main draw list to be finalised.

Traditionally attracting a large number of national and international talent who travel to compete in the Perth Tennis International Pro Tour event, travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an all WA player line up.

The WA Open is an Australian Money Tournament, and offers players both prize money and Australian Ranking points.

To see all match results and other details regarding the WA Open Silver AMT, head to:  https://tournaments.tennis.com.au/tournament/DAC0E786-FB46-4BB4-9291-D326F4422CA2.

For more information on AMT events go to https://www.tennis.com.au/tournaments/pro-tournaments/australian-money-tournaments.