IN WHAT was his first tournament for two years, Barney Fitzpatrick almost completed a sensational comeback.

The 22-year-old from Leeds, who was diagnosed with Meniere’s disease in 2021, had two match points in a thrilling LTA Lexus British Tour Grade Two men’s singles final at Ilkley Lawn Tennis & Squash Club only to fall short.

Fitzpatrick, who at 6ft 3in had a considerable height advantage over his opponent, lost 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6) after a 2hr 50min battle against Devon’s Matthew Rutter.

But Fitzpatrick, who lives in Adel, could see the positives from his week’s tennis, havig not competed since the British Tour event at Ilkley in 2022.

He said: “I am super proud. I didn’t really expect to get this far in the tournament - in fact I had no expectations having not competed for a couple of years, but I had trained well for the past couple of weeks and my coaches said that I was playing at a good enough level to win matches.

“I played some good tennis and competed really well, and they were the main positives to take from it.

“I don’t think that my tennis level was great all week, but I did well in some big moments and won some clutch matches and wasn’t too hard on myself, but there is a big difference between training and playing matches.”

Fitzpatrick, whose defensive play caught the eye, as did his generally low unforced error count, added: “I was pumped to get to the final, but gutted to lose.

“However, my body is finished for the moment and I was cramping in both legs during both my quarter-final and my semi-final on Friday, and now my shoulder is hurting so it is a good time for a rest.

“I was going to play the British Tour at Newcastle this week, but I am going to pull out and prepare for some $15,000 Futures tournaments in Tunisia in a few weeks so I am looking forward to that.

“My ambition is to play on the tour but also coach at the David Lloyd Club in Leeds.

“Ideally I would like to stop coaching, but that isn’t possible at the moment as I have no sponsors.

“I did have some before Meniere’s kicked in and now I am looking to get some sponsors back.”

Fourth seed Fitzpatrick’s match points came when he served for the match at 5-4 in the final set, but he missed a smash and netted a forehand.

He also led 5-3 in the final set-tie-break only to lose five of the last six points to compact 20-year-old left-hander Rutter, from Exeter.

Meniere’s disease gave Fitzpatrick vertigo and he is now deaf in his left ear, but thanks to injections in that ear the problem is now under control.

After winning his first British Tour title, Rutter said: “He played very well but I was lucky on one of the match points where he missed that smash.

“That was my third 7-6 final set across the week and that is my main takeaway - that I stayed mentally strong in those matches - but the facilities here are great and that is why they hold a Challenger here before Wimbledon, although the weather here isn’t always great but the courts have played well.”

Rutter added: “I am currently at the Ivy League University Pennsylvania and will be heading back out there on about August 21 ready for my third year majoring in economics and data.

“If I am progressing well after university I will play tennis full-time, but if not I will have a world-class education.”

Ciara Moore, top seed by default after the leading duo of defending champion Ellie Blackford and Summer Yardley pulled out, won the women’s singles final 7-5, 6-3 against 17-year-old eighth seed Melanie Raath from Hertfordshire in a game of many service breaks.

Moore, 16, from Cobham in Surrey, said: “I have just started playing tennis more after taking my GCSEs.

“I want to go full-time and hopefully I will play a few more Futures, although American university is an option. The courts played well, although they were a bit slippy at the back (where there was no grass after County Week last week).”

Among local successes in the Grade Three Ilkley Open, which ran alongside the British Tour event, were Thomas Nailer in the boys’ under-18 singles, Steve Shipley in the men’s over-50 singles, Jan Mort in the women’s over-50 singles, and Clare Johnson and Mort in the women’s over-50 doubles.