'An amazing atmosphere, I love being here' - Mirjam Bjorklund and Jason Kubler are new Lexus Ilkley Trophy champions

Kubler, who holds the men’s doubles title at the Australian Open, has looked good on the grass in singles action and will hope this form carries over to Wimbledon where he made the fourth round last year.

The 30-year-old, ranked 97 in the world, faced the in-form Austrian Sebastian Ofner, the tournament’s top seed at a world rank of 81 and making his fifth Challenger Tour final appearance of 2023.

After some serve-dominated opening games, Kubler applied pressure to the 27-year-old’s serve and a double fault brought up two break points. The first was saved with an ace, but a second double fault handed the Australian the advantage.

Ofner managed to negotiate a tight seven-deuce game on his serve to force Kubler to serve for the set, but the former junior world No1 converted set point with a strong serve down the middle.

Kubler got the break in the third game of the second set, continuing to put Ofner under pressure with some good returning before the Austrian double faulted on break point.

Kubler found himself with three match points at 5-4 in the second set, and he converted the third of them, again catching the centre line with a serve to draw a miss on the return.

On winning the Ilkley title with a 6-4 6-4 victory, Kubler said: “It feels special, a first grass court title.

“This grass court season has been good. I made the quarters in Surbiton and I had a pretty tough match against [Ugo] Humbert in Hertogenbosch. To get a lot of matches going into Wimbledon has been the main goal and getting the wins here has made it a bit more special.”

After handing Ofner his fifth final defeat of the year, the Australian added: “He’s a great player, he can play on all surfaces. He showed that at the French Open.

“It was one of those matches where I felt like I executed my tennis well.

“I think in the two games I did break him, he double faulted a couple of times, so obviously it’s one of those matches where things sort of went my way.”

Kubler will go straight into Wimbledon as a direct entrant, after finishing his preparations at the ATP 250 event in Mallorca next week.

“Especially the last few years on grass, I’ve always seemed to have done well,” he said on his ambitions for the remainder of the grass court season.

“In the qualifying event for Wimbledon, I think I’ve qualified twice now, made last round where I lost in five, and obviously last year making the fourth round.

“Leading into Wimbledon, I’m definitely feeling comfortable on the surface, and hopefully I can keep playing good tennis.”

Saturday’s finals day at a packed Ilkley opened with the women’s final in which the 175-ranked Bjorklund, 24, faced the tournament’s top seed in 22-year-old American Emma Navarro.

Playing the biggest singles final of her career, Bjorklund, who beat last year’s champion Dalma Galfi in her semi-final, showed no nerves against the world number 68.

Five breaks of serve were exchanged in the opening set, with Bjorklund holding the slight advantage, and she managed to serve it out to win 6-4. The Swede continued on the front foot and went 5-2 ahead in the second set, but Navarro managed to come back with some strong returning to draw errors from Bjorklund and level at 5-5.

However, Bjorklund restored the break advantage immediately and found a strong serve at 40-15 to finally get over the line 6-4 7-5.

On winning the ITF 100k event, the 24-year-old said: “It feels amazing, honestly, I’ve played a lot of big events this year and I haven’t played too many ITFs.

“I’ve kind of felt like my level has gone up and it feels very nice getting kind of a receipt on what I’ve been feeling.

“The results are just an added bonus, but I really have had a lot of fun this week. I’m really, very happy with the title.

“All matches like this when you’re playing against really good players are extremely tight, you can’t expect to go and win comfortably.

“I had to keep playing my game until the end and I couldn’t give her an inch, because like we saw from 5-2 to 5-5, that’s just how it is. I’m very happy with my game.”

“So I’m very happy with the matches and also the opponents. They’ve given me great matches and great practice for next week.

“These are the kind of matches you want to get even if you don’t get the win."

With all Wimbledon main draw wildcards allocated, Bjorklund, who qualified for Wimbledon in 2022 where she lost to eventual finalist Ons Jabeur, will not be given quick access into the championships as has been the case with previous Ilkley champions.

However, she remains positive that her work in Ilkley will stand her in good stead for the qualifying competition: “It’s nice, I came here just to get a couple of matches on grass before Wimbledon. To finish here with the title, it’s incredible.”

On her return to Ilkley after a first round exit in 2022, Bjorklund added: “It’s very nice here. The scenery, the people, everybody is very nice and helpful.

“I really appreciate this tournament, the organisation and everybody, they’re always trying their best to make it as good as possible for us.

“It’s just an amazing atmosphere. I really like being here.”