Dan Evans and Taylor Fritz, two of the biggest movers to reach the top 100 on the ATP World Tour in the past 18 months, will take to Centre Court at the Aegon Open Nottingham on Sunday as main draw action begins, while British hope Josh Milton has reached the final round of qualifying.

Dan Evans
Dan Evans

USA rising star Fritz, who has risen over 1,000 places in the world rankings since January 2015 to 63, returns to the Nottingham Tennis Centre after his ATP debut at the same venue last year. The 18-year-old will take on French World No. 57 Adrian Mannarino at 12pm.

Second up will see Evans, a member of Britain’s 2015 Davis Cup winning squad who has climbed 662 spots in one year, takes on compatriot wild card Liam Broady.

In Saturday’s first qualifying round, Milton defeated Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador 6-0, 6-4 in less than an hour, though fellow Brits Lloyd Glasspool, Ryan James Storrie and Jay Clarke all fell.

Milton, 26, will face American Ernesto Escobedo first on Court 1 on Sunday and victory for the Welsh No. 1 would send him to his first ever ATP main draw match.

“I played well,” he said after his win against Arevalo, who is 213 places higher in the world rankings. “I started especially well. It got a little bit closer towards the end but I’m pleased that I managed to close it out.

“I haven’t played a great deal of tennis this year and was injured coming into the grass-court season, but I know I can play well on it. The courts here are brilliant – Nottingham has always had good courts.”

Elsewhere, World No. 91 Sam Groth beat 39-year-old Frank Moser 6-1, 7-6(3), having lost only one point against his serve in the 19-minute first set. The Australian will fight Frank Dancevic of Canada first on Court 2 tomorrow for a place in the main draw.

And the final round of qualifying matches will also include World No. 79 Stephane Robert against Matthew Barton, as well as an all-Czech affair between Jan Hernych and Michal Konecny.

AEGON OPEN NOTTINGHAM – NOTTINGHAM, GBR
€704,805
19-25 JUNE 2016

RESULTS – JUNE 18, 2016
Mens
Qualifying Singles – First Round
Qualifying – [1] S. Robert (FRA) d [WC] R. Storrie (GBR) 67(2) 75 61
Qualifying – [2] S. Groth (AUS) d F. Moser (GER) 61 76(3)
Qualifying – J. Milton (GBR) d [3] M. Arevalo (ESA) 60 64
Qualifying – J. Hernych (CZE) d [4] R. Ramanathan (IND) 63 61
Qualifying – [5] M. Barton (AUS) d [WC] J. Clarke (GBR) 64 75
Qualifying – [6] E. Escobedo (USA) d B. Mousley (AUS) 62 76(3)
Qualifying – [7] F. Dancevic (CAN) d A. Pavic (CRO) 64 67(6) 63
Qualifying – [8] M. Konecny (CZE) d [Alt] L. Glasspool (GBR) 76(2) 76(5)

ORDER OF PLAY – SUNDAY, JUNE 19, 2016
CENTRE COURT start Not Before 12:00 noon
A. Mannarino (FRA) vs T. Fritz (USA)
D. Evans (GBR) vs [WC] L. Broady (GBR)
M. Youzhny (RUS) vs T. Gabashvili (RUS)
[1] I. Dodig (CRO) / M. Melo (BRA) vs [WC] J. Marray (GBR) / A. Shamasdin (CAN)
COURT 1 start 11:00 am
Qualifying – J. Milton (GBR) vs [6] E. Escobedo (USA)

Not Before 12:00 noon
D. Kudla (USA) vs E. Donskoy (RUS)
O. Marach (AUT) / F. Martin (FRA) vs P. Carreno Busta (ESP) / G. Pella (ARG)
COURT 2 start 11:00 am
Qualifying – [2] S. Groth (AUS) vs [7] F. Dancevic (CAN)

Not Before 12:00 noon
P. Cuevas (URU) / J. Sousa (POR) vs [4] J. Cabal (COL) / R. Farah (COL)
COURT 4 start 11:00 am
Qualifying – [1] S. Robert (FRA) vs [5] M. Barton (AUS)
COURT 3 start 11:00 am
Qualifying – J. Hernych (CZE) vs [8] M. Konecny (CZE)

The Aegon Open Nottingham
Tickets to the Aegon Open Nottingham ATP event, which starts Saturday, 18 June are available for as little as £5. Please visit the LTA website for more information.

For information on the hospitality packages on offer at The Aegon Open Nottingham head to the LTA website or contact Elliot Sheasby on aegonopen@lta.org.uk

The Aegon Open Nottingham sees two tournaments take place in June, with the men’s ATP event staged from 18-25 June 2016. Both the WTA and ATP tournaments are an integral part of the British grass-court season, which features 11 international grass-court tournaments in eight venues across the country.

2017 Grass Court Tournament Calendar
Earlier this year the LTA announced exciting changes to the three week 2017 grass court tournament calendar. Nottingham will host a combined men’s and women’s tour-level tournament in the same week for the first time in 44 years. The pre-existing ATP 250 tournament will move back to Eastbourne, merging with the WTA Premier Aegon International to form a combined event (as it was from 2009-2014) featuring the following format: a 28-player main draw men’s event and 48-player main draw for the women staged across nine days. Other changes include a doubling of prize money at the Aegon Trophy Series (ATP Challenger & ITF Women’s Pro Circuit) creating the highest value circuit at this level in world tennis.

– ENDS –