Brassington takes part in AEGON British Tour

Two Leeds Met students participated in the AEGON British Tour Bolton 2011 tennis competition, held at Bolton arena from March 21 - 26.

Kyle Brassington, Leeds Met's men's No. 1, reached the final of the Men's Singles tournament, while ninth seed Nicole Peterson was successful in reaching the semi-finals of the Women's Singles.

The AEGON British Tour provides a circuit of tournaments designed to compliment the Senior International Calendar. The tournaments give up and coming players the opportunity to gain experience in their quest to become professional tennis players, as well as additional domestic competitive opportunities to those already competing on the international stage.

Kyle, ranked 1399 in the world by the International Tennis Foundation (ITF), beat Miles Bugby, ranked 1345, in the semi-finals in three sets, 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-1. Warwickshire's Andrew Fitzpatrick (ITF ranked 1082) however, proved too strong for Kyle in the finals and won 6-4, 6-3 to take the title.

Kyle said: "As I use to train at Bolton full time before coming to university it was a nice feeling playing there as I've always felt at home on court their. Getting to the final is obviously a great achievement but it a place I feel comfortable being and I need to keep repeating these kinds of progressions through tournaments to give me the best chance of being selected for the University games in August."

The pair met in the semi-finals of the AEGON British Tour Graves in February, with Fitzpatrick winning in straight sets on that occasion before eventually losing in the final.

Kyle continued: "This tournament has given me a great deal of confidence especially beating players such as Nicolas Rosenzweig (ATP 812) with relative ease.

The confidence gained from this tournament will hopefully see me repeat similar results in upcoming tournaments.
In the Women's event, Nicole Peterson, ranked 37 nationally and studying Carnegie Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence, reached the semi finals, beating Jennifer Ren (ITF ranked 1117) in the quarter finals, but eventually losing to tournament winner Sam Murray (ITF ranked 962) 6-4, 6-3.