Kubler and Bjorklund claim Ilkley titles

Jason Kubler and Mirjam Bjorklund both claimed victory at the LTA's Lexus Ilkley Trophy to bring a thrilling week of tennis to an end. Kubler, the Australian Open doubles champion, eased past Sebastian Ofner 6-4 6-4 to claim his first singles title of the year and the first of his career on grass. Ad Ofner had qualified for the final with a 6-3 6-0 victory over Zsombor Piros in less than hour, while Kubler was forced into a full three-set battle by Rothesay Open Nottingham runner-up Arthur Cazaux, eventually winning 4-6 6-3 6-1.

TennisReid confident he and Hewett can land doubles crown at Queen'sAN HOUR AGO But the Australian showed no signs of tiredness to dominate proceedings, ceding not a single break point to Ofner in a straightforward affair to seal his eighth ATP Challenger title in style. «I always knew today was going to be a tough match. Seb is a great player and he's shown that all week — the form he's been in has been incredible,» said Kubler.

«Today was just one of those days where I hit a lot of my spots on serve and got my returns when I needed it. It's great to play these matches against top quality opponents like this.» It was also a straight sets victory for Bjorklund, who earned her first title of 2023 with a 6-4 7-5 win over top seed Emma Navarro. Navarro had not dropped a set en route to the final, including an impressive semi-final victory over Great Britain's Sonay Kartal who was in great form after knocking out the fourth and fifth seeds to reach the last four.