Ed Corrie continues to enjoy his first return to The Shrewsbury Club since reaching the 2016 final after booking his place in the last eight of the Budgen Motors GB Pro-Series tournament.
Corrie, seeded five, came from behind to beat fellow Brit Lloyd Glasspool 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to set up a quarter-final clash with American Ronnie Schneider today (Thursday).
The 29-year-old from Hertfordshire is one of three Brits through to the last eight of the $25,000 event along with Jack Findel-Hawkins and Evan Hoyt – but both James Ward and Marcus Willis were among the players to fall in the second round.
Corrie, whose current world ranking is 362, has “very good memories” of reaching the final at The Shrewsbury Club two years ago and was delighted to come through his clash with Glasspool.
“It was very tough,” he said. “Lloyd started well and I came out a little bit cold. It was a battle from then on and the start of the second, the start of the third, both could have gone either way. There were some tight games and some good tennis.
“I managed to get a break up in both sets. In the third, I got pegged back, but played a really good return game to get the last break before serving it out.”
He’s not played Schneider before but stressed the American “must be playing well” to have beaten experienced Dane Freddie Nielsen, the 2012 Wimbledon men’s doubles champion, in straight sets in round two.
He said: “I saw him a little bit at the end of last year in some Challengers out there, but don’t know too much about his game, so we’ll see.”
Corrie added he’s pleased to be back in Shrewsbury at a tournament he enjoys: “It’s great,” he said. “For a Futures event, it’s one of the best there is. The club’s so nice and people are so friendly, so it’s a good place to play.”
British qualifier Findel-Hawkins, 23, from Devon followed up knocking out Belgian Davis Cup player Joris De Loore in the first round by impressively beating Willis 6-7, 7-6, 6-1. He will now meet Estonian Kenneth Raisma, a fellow qualifer, after he got the better of Dutchman Igor Sijsling, a former world number 52, in three sets.
Hoyt, from South Wales, maintained his good form with a 7-6, 6-4 verdict over fellow Brit Billy Harris to set up a last eight clash with French player Fabien Reboul, a convincing winner in straight sets against British qualifier Alexis Canter.
Today’s other quarter-final will be between French prospect Evan Furness and Austrian No 7 seed Maximilian Neuchrist.
Furness claimed a 6-1, 6-3 victory over British Davis Cup winner Ward, who was competing in his first tournament for six months on his return from knee surgery, while Neuchrist progressed in straight sets at the expense of Romanian Bogdan Ionut Apostol.
Today’s quarter-final action gets under on The Shrewsbury Club’s indoor courts at 11am, with admission free for spectators.
Shropshire Live is regulated by 