Parklife suits tennis starlet Phillips down to ground in Brighton

Players from 11 clubs competed in the tournament over the summer. In the preliminary rounds, Phillips didn’t drop a game.

In the quarter-finals she beat the No2 seed Mars Schellevis 6-1, 6-0 and in the semis she beat No3 seed Katie King-Petit 6-0, 6-1.

Phillips (pictured) went on to win the final against No1 seed Katie Walters 6-4, 6-2.

In the mixed event at the tournament, Phillips partnered Graham Godden. They clinched a win in the quarter-finals by beating No2 seeds Scott Towse and Zoe Froud 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, but were disappointingly knocked out in the semis by Tony Denman and Debbie Clarke 6-1, 7-5.

In the ladies’ doubles Phillips and Mars Schellevis beat Sue Tyhurst and Katie Walters 6-1, 6-1 in the quarter-finals and Jo Fry and Amanda Stevenson 6-0, 6-0 in the semis. They face Juliette Seaton and Zoe Froud in the final.

Phillips has reached 160 in the British ladies’ tennis rankings. She has had some tough matches at the beginning of the winter season.

In the Aegon British Tour at Paddington she beat Jarlenn Severino 6-0, 6-0 0 but in the next round she faced 20-year-old Gemma Praditngam from Derbyshire. Praditngam has a 5.2 rating (one better than Phillips’ 6.1 rating) and is world-ranked.

Phillips played well and although a lot of games went to deuce, Praditngam was able to dominate and won 6-1, 6-1.

In the Aegon British Tour at Cambridge, Phillips played Katherine Tassell (Suffolk), who has a 5.2 rating and is ranked No5 in Great Britain for ladies over 35. Phillips made too many unforced errors and Tassell capitalised on this to win 6-2, 6-1.