Tesni’s Manchester Hopes Dashed As Epic Run Takes Its Toll

Tesni Evans’ hopes of being crowned Manchester Open champion were dashed as she was beaten in the final.

The 26-year-old lost 11-8, 11-2, 11-4 in 32 minutes to New Zealand’s No 2 seed Joelle King in the final.

Evans, seeded six,  had come through two epic five-game battles against opponents ranked higher than her in the world to reach the final.

The Rhyl-based world No 9 saw off England’s Sarah-Jane Perry (World No 6) in the quarter-finals.

And she came back from losing the first two games to see off Egypt’s top seed and world No 3 NourEl Tayeb in the finals.

King,  ranked five in the world, was a seed too far as he lifted the inaugural trophy having dropped just one game all week after a tight first game.

“After the week I’ve had, she’s definitely someone I didn’t want to play,” admitted Cardiff-born Evans.

“I’m obviously disappointed that I couldn’t put up a big enough fight, but she was just too good.

“She was on everything early and when you’ve had some tough matches under your belt it was tough.”

New Zealand’s Joelle King with the Manchester Open trophy.

“I just tried to give everything and on reflection, after a disappointing day, I can reflect on it and take a lot of good things from the week I have had.”

But Evans should be rewarded with a ride in the rankings from her current career high when they are announced next month.