ALEX Jewitt, pictured, beat Kevin Simpson in an all-British men’s main draw consolation singles final at the Alpi Del Mare NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour event in Cuneo, Italy.
Reigning national champion Jewitt and current British No 4 Simpson had tough first round men’s singles draws, with Jewitt putting up a fine effort before a narrow 7-6(1), 7-6(9) loss to Slovakian fourth seed David Chabrecek.
Meanwhile, Simpson found the former world No 3 too good for him as the Pole progressed 6-0, 6-2 to maintain his unbeaten singles record for the season, which he extended still further when beating Chabrecek in the quarter-finals.
After their first round losses in the main draw, Simpson progressed to the final of the consolation following a 7-6, 6-2 win over Finland’s Taneli Tenhunen and a fine comeback to beat Italy’s Luca Spano 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.
Jewitt produced some confident displays to beat Switzerland’s Konstantin Schmaeh 6-0, 6-0 and Dan Kleckner of Austria 6-1, 6-1.
Jewitt maintain his momentum as he overcame Simpson 6-2, 7-5 in the consolation final.
Jewitt and Simpson made a solid start to the men’s doubles, beating second seeds Guido Nespethal (Germany) and Daniel Pellegrina (Switzerland) 6-3, 6-3.
However, their bid for a place in the final was thwarted by Italian duo Fabian Mazzei and Spano, who progressed 6-3, 6-4.
The British players now head to Sunderland for the North East Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, another ITF 3 Series event and Britain’s second world ranking tournament of 2011, which begins on Friday.
