Liverpool International Tennis Tournament 2018
Photographs by Patrick Trollope - VAMPHire.com.

OVER 21 June to 24 June 2018, the 17th Edition of the Liverpool International Tennis Tournament, the largest and longest running exhibition tennis tournament in Europe, took place at the Aigburth Cricket Ground, in Liverpool. This year was the 1st time Williams BMW Liverpool was the title sponsor of this tournament and they took a very active role in the event providing luxury transport for players and VIP's. On the court it was a fast pace, despite the heat, but all taking part told us they fully enjoyed the showcase event, that is used by players as a warm up before Wimbledon. Over the 4 main days of exhibition Tennis, players included:-

► Ellie Tsimbilakis, from Britain, qualified for the tournament on the lead up, beating Mila Burek 6 to 3 6 to 2, to reach the round robin stage.

► Vera Zvonareva, from Moscow, Russia, rated World No. 2 by the WTA. Zvonareva has won twelve WTA Tour singles titles including 2009 Indian Wells Masters. In 2015 she gave birth to Evelyn, but in 2017 Vera missed the circuit.

► Marion Bartoli won the women singles Wimbledon title in 2013, after a long and distinguished career on the WTA circuit. She was forced to retire from the game a few months later due to a shoulder injury and further sickness caught her in 2016.

► Corinna Dentoni was born in Pietrasta in Italy. Corinna has won 8 singles and 5 doubles ITF titles and has had a very successful career on the well know club circuit in Germany and Spain. A great all rounder who lights up every match she plays.

► Alexandra Cadantu, a Romanian tennis player playing in the ITF Women's Circuit. Currently Alexandra is playing in the ITF Women's Circuit. On 6 January 2014, she reached her highest WTA singles ranking of 59. She started tennis at the age of 3 and is coached by Emil Negoita.

► Neal Skupski, from Liverpool, who sensationally made it to the Mens Doubles Quarterfinals, at Wimbledon, in 2017. Neal is the younger brother of Ken Skupski.

► Ken Skupski, from Liverpool, also took part at the Tournament.

► Luke Bambridge who is currently ranked 92 in Doubles and comes from Nottingham.

► Jonny O'Mara, who had a career high ATP singles ranking of 489 achieved on 10 April 2017. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of 96, that was achieved, in June 2018.

► Adam Jones, an upcoming local star who won the Liverpool International qualification tournament in 2017.

► Gastaoe Elias, the 5th Portuguese tennis player in the history to break into the top 100 of the Association of Tennis Professional singles rankings.

► Alessandro Giannessi is a flamboyant, professional Italian tennis player. He reached his highest ATP singles ranking of 99 while while his best doubles ranking was 171, in October 2013.

► Robert Kendrick popped over the pond, from the USA, to play at the Tournament. Before retiring he was famous for his classic serve and volley game. His career high singles ranking was No. 69, achieved in July 2009.

Despite the extremely hot weather, along with the distraction of the World Cup, action on court and attendance were exceptionally good. We captured the last few hours of action on the Sunday, as players took to the main court, in front of the Aigburth Cricket Club's pavilion, which is the oldest at a 1st class cricket ground, designed by Thomas Harnett Harrison and built in 1880.

Winners of the Tournament were:-

► Alessandro Giannessi wins Liverpool International 2018 Men's Singles Title

► Corinna Dentoni wins Liverpool International 2018 Ladies Singles Title

Don't forget you can watch the video footage if you missed the action on the Tournament's YouTube Channel. Also check out:- LiverpoolTennis.Co.UK for news about the 2019 Tournament, to be updated very soon!

This year the Liverpool International Tennis Tournament had more than just Tennis on show. For the very 1st ever appearance within the North West of England, Williams BMW Liverpool unveiled the 1st ever BMW i8 Roadster. This luxury plug in hybrid looked stunning along the side of the main court and it was not the only side show that captured the attention of those attending this year's tournament. Also included were fashion shows and business networking events, as well as a link up with this year's International Business Festival (IBF) , that was also taking place in Liverpool, during part of the Tournament.

As a publication we would like to thank strongly the Liverpool International Tennis Tournament and its organisers, Northern Vision Ltd ,for their help this year, including coming to an event in Southport for us. It was an honour to be a media partner with such a high profile and important sporting event.

Did you know? This year in the UK marks the 100th Anniversary of when some women finally gained the right to vote, so we thought it might make an interesting added fact, that the 1st Women's Cricket World Cup was held in England in 1973, at Aigburth Cricket Club!

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