Luke Saville was happy to leave England and Australia’s sporting rivalry to the cricketers despite beating Britain’s Daniel Cox to win the men’s singles at the LTA Lexus GB Pro Series Roehampton.
While Saville’s compatriots had been hoping for rain at Old Trafford in order to retain the Ashes, the world No.109 Saville managed to stay dry on his way to beating Cox 6-4 1-6 6-1 at the National Tennis Centre.
The international tournament in south-west London is part of the LTA’s Performance Competitions Calendar, which provides significantly enhanced opportunities for British players at each age and stage of the performance player pathway.
And Saville expressed his admiration for the tournament and the NTC after keeping calm under pressure to secure the title.
“I don’t really see it like that, I love playing here in the UK it feels very much like home,” he said.
“I like all the people here and I feel very comfortable.
“I love playing here at Roehampton, the LTA have a great facility and grass is my favourite surface so I am really happy to finish the grass court season with a title.
“I came into the tournament trying to win the event to be honest.
“I just really felt like my game is in a good place, I had a tough time in Nottingham last week, I went out in the first round against the eventual winner.
“So I came in here with a clear focus, I was very driven this week and to finish it off is very satisfying.”
The 29-year-old defeated eighth seed Johannus Monday 7-6(1) 7-6(6) in the semi-final to book his place in Saturday’s final.
The LTA Lexus GB Pro Series Roehampton featured 22 British men in the singles draw, but Saville made sure that the title would be heading Down Under.
Saville added: “It was a really tough one out there, there were pretty difficult conditions today.
“Daniel is just such a good competitor, he made me work until the very end.
“So yeah, it was a final, there were a few nerves because obviously, I wanted to win the last match of the tournament.
“I am pretty happy with how I handled the nerves and expectations, I really stuck to my game plan and my game style.
“In that third set, I really shone through.”
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