Civic Reception Officially Starts World Tour at Shrewsbury

Julian Dean, Mayor of Shrewsbury, makes the draw by pulling numbered tennis balls out of the boot of a Budgen Motors car

A Civic Reception held at the showroom of main sponsor, Budgen Motors, officially opened the ITF World Tennis Tour Mens M25 event this evening. Welcoming the players, officials and supporters to the town, the Mayor said he was delighted to be involved in making the draw for the first round of the event. He was joined in making the draw by Joe Newton of Connexis who sponsored the Civic Reception along with Lanyon Bowdler.

Lucy Ambrose, the LTA's Tournament Director, also spoke at the ceremony commenting,

"This is my first time at this tournament, and it is such a privilege to be here, as I know from the players and my colleagues at the National Tennis Centre this event and the associated functions in the town are held in such high regard."

Lucy also went on to thank the sponsors including the Prince Rupert Hotel who are the official tournament hotel and who accommodate the tournament officials and players throughout the week.

As for the main draw, there were numerous exciting match ups to look forward to, with all first round singles matches being played tomorrow.

Paul Jubb and Aidan McHugh are the highest ranked Brits - both are in the top 10 - playing in Shrewsbury.

Jubb has been drawn against Italian Francesco Maestrelli in the first round while McHugh will face Daniel Little in an all-British clash.

Billy Harris, the other seeded British player, has been handed a round one meeting with Maximilian Neuchrist from Austria. This should be an interesting match up with Neuchrist making it to the Final when he last played in Shrwesbury in 2018.

French player Antione Escoffier, the number one seed and winner of a similar event in Loughborough last month, has been drawn against Tobias Simon from Germany in another heavyweight match up with Simon being a beaten semi-finalist the last time the event was held in Shrewsbury.

Tomorrow’s first round matches start at 10am, with tickets for spectators to enjoy the action from court-side stands costing £7.50, which includes a tournament programme.