Lenzie tennis player Maia Lumsden takes biggest win yet in pro career

Lenzie tennis star Maia Lumsden has ended her year on a high by taking her first ITF $25,000 tour title.
Maia Lumsden with her trophy after winning the ITF tournament in Shrewsbury (pic by Richard Dawson)Maia Lumsden with her trophy after winning the ITF tournament in Shrewsbury (pic by Richard Dawson)
Maia Lumsden with her trophy after winning the ITF tournament in Shrewsbury (pic by Richard Dawson)

The 20-year-old won the tournament at Shrewsbury last week, defeating Russia’s Valeria Savinkh in three sets in the final.

Maia not only won the tournament unseeded, but she had to come through qualifying to simply earn a place in the main draw.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But after winning two qualifying matches she carried on that form in the tournament proper, winning five matches.

Highlights included a 7-5 6-0 quarter-final win over Austrian number three seed Barbara Haas, a player ranked over 170 places above Maia.

A three-set win over Belgium’s Greet Minnen then took Maia - who had won all her previous matches in straight sets - into her second ITF final of the year.

In the final Maia, who was runner-up in the Glasgow tournament in January, took the opening set 6-1 but Savinkh hit back to win the second 6-4.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

However Maia stayed strong to win the decider 6-3 and take the biggest win of her pro career on her third match point.

She told the Kirkintilloch Herald: “It was a great week, a bit unexpected but it turned out really well.

“It was a really strong event because it was one of the last ones of the year, so it was just a case of trying to qualify for the main draw and once I got through then taking it one match at a time.”

Maia continued: “In the quarter-finals I was playing the third seed who is ranked 190 in the world and the top seed was 110 in the world, so there were a lot of players higher ranked than me which is why it was unexpected.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“The tournament puts on a really good event and there were a lot of people there compared to some of the other tournaments. I walked on to ‘500 Miles’ and I started really well in the final.

“She came back in the second set, she’s quite a good fighter, and I knew that in the third set I had to step it up and I managed to do that.

“I was delighted with a little bit of relief because it was my third match point.

“And they played ‘500 Miles’ again after the match point so it was quite funny.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Maia, now ranked 376 in the world - up from 584 last year, has completed her professional schedule for the year but will be part of the British Universities team at next month’s international championship in Grenoble.