Wimbledon winner and Netflix documentary crew could all be headed to Ilkley Trophy

The Lexus Ilkley Trophy returns to the grass courts of the idyllic Yorkshire setting from Saturday with some familiar names and big players confirmed to continue their build up to Wimbledon.

Four-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist and former world No 7 David Goffin of Belgium is the headline act in the men’s draw while Heather Watson, the long-time darling of the British women’s scene, is on the provisional entry list for the women’s tournament.

The Ilkley tournament, which is an ATP Challenger event for the men and an ITF World Tennis Tour W100 event for the women, has always gone up against Queen’s and Birmingham in the calendar, two of the more traditional Wimbledon warm-ups for the bigger names.

But there is greater intrigue about who might be in attendance in Ilkley this year, with Australian Open doubles champion Thanasi Kokkinakis signed up just months after his show-stealing turn in the Netflix documentary Break Point.

“I’m not sure Netflix will be coming,” admits tournament director and Ilkley club chairman Rik Smith, “I’ve not seen their names of the accreditation list...yet.

“But it’s another big name after he won the Australian Open doubles with a very famous Aussie in Nick Kyrgios.

“You never know, they might make an appearance.”

The former Wimbledon champion rumoured to be in West Yorkshire next week is Pat Cash, who has taken on the coaching of a mystery Australian player and could be in the stands watching her.

“Pat is another very big name in tennis who will be walking round Ilkley this summer,” says Smith.

"I’ve had lots of text messages about it.

“It’s a real compliment to the tournament.

“We’ve got three of last year’s finalists all returning in Dalma Galfi coming back to the defend the title she won against Jodie Burrage, who is around No 111 in the world.

“Jodie probably had the opportunity to go elsewhere, somewhere like Birmingham, but she’s chosen to come back to Ilkley.

“It’s a great pat on the back to our tournament, to Ilkley and to the region that these players do want to return year after year.”

Now in it’s seventh year - there was a two-year hiatus due to the Covid pandemic - the Lexus Ilkley Trophy has been brought forward a day in line with ATP requirements to allow players a full day in between the end of the tournament on Saturday, June 24, and the start of Wimbledon qualifiers in London on the Monday.

“Fans get more tennis for their money,” says Smith of the upcoming opening weekend.

“There’s a huge amount of matches on that first Saturday with men’s qualifiers beginning, and then we’ll have a combination of men’s qualifiers and main draw on the Sunday, as well as women’s qualifiers, so I think on the Sunday alone we’ve got upwards of 27 matches taking place.”

The women’s draw is particularly strong with five members of the world’s top 100 having entered - rising Czech youngster Linda Fruhvirtova, who is world No 59; Emma Navarro (75), Nuria Parrizas-Diaz (94), defending women’s champion Galfi from Hungary (98) and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (100). Also scheduled to compete is Harriet Dart, who was an Ilkley quarter-finalist in 2018, and Sonay Kartal, who lost 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (9-7) to Burrage in last year’s semi-finals.

Also returning to Ilkley are Yuriko Lily Miyazaki, who reached the second round last year; Anna Brogan, who qualified, and Leeds’ Naiktha Bains.

Ilkley has in the past been a launch pad for a strong grass court season.

In 2017, little-known Slovakian Magdaléna Rybáriková won Ilkley and then went all the way to the semi-finals of Wimbledon, while future US Open winner Daniil Medvedev was a regular fixture in the first couple of years of the tournament in the middle part of the last decade.

Defending his title in the men’s Challenger event this time around is Goffin’s Belgian compatriot Zizou Bergs, whose success on Ilkley Lawn Tennis and Squash Club’s grass courts last year earned him a wild card into the men’s singles at Wimbledon.

Entry on day one of the north’s biggest tournament on Saturday, June 17, is free when the tournament will be celebrating Yorkshire’s tennis successes of 2022 after which they were named the country’s top tennis county.

Ground passes earlier in the week available for only £13, £7 for children.

Finals day, with nearly 1,200 seats on centre court, is almost sold out.

Smith added: “From a ticket sales perspective we’ve already outsold the total number we managed in 2022, and that’s a week from the start of the tournament.”