It’s title delight for Tom Loxley - and his Shropshire team mate Roan Jones impresses at an ITF event in Tunisia

Two of the rising stars of Shropshire tennis, Tom Loxley and Roan Jones, continue to impress both nationally and further afield.

Tom maintained his fine form by winning a second tier Lexus British Tour title at Ilkley, while Roan impressively came through three qualifying rounds to reach the main draw of the ITF M25 Monastir tournament in Tunisia.

Their success as singles players follows them both playing key roles for Shropshire's men's team last month as they helped secure back-to-back promotions at the LTA Summer County Cup.

That means the Shropshire team can look forward to playing in Group 4 next year, the highest level the county will have ever played in the prestigious annual team event.

Tom made a quick return to the grass courts at Ilkley Lawn Tennis & Squash Club in Yorkshire - where he had represented Shropshire so well just a few days earlier - for the Lexus British Tour Ilkley event.

Tom, from Telford, enjoyed an excellent week, overcoming second seed Jack Gibbens in the last 32 during his run to the final.

The Shropshire player eventually beat fourth seed Christof Schaertlin Coffey 6-4, 6-1 in last weekend's final to be impressively crowned champion.

Roan, from Pontesbury, travelled to Tunisia to play his latest ITF tournament and it proved to be another productive week.

He won through three qualifying round matches, including a notable victory over experienced American player Sekou Bangoura - who has been ranked as high as 213 in the world - 6-3, 6-4.

Roan faced Manas Dhamne from India in the first round of the main draw of the M25 Monastir tournament when his fine run was ended by a player currently a career-high 705 in the world rankings.

Shropshire's Roan played in the main draw of the Junior Championships at Wimbledon in 2021, eventually losing in three sets to Daniel Rincon, a Spanish player who has since been ranked as high as 181 in the world.

Alex Parry, the captain of Shropshire's men's team, is delighted to see both players performing so consistently well as they continue to chase world rankings.

"It's fantastic to see that Shropshire tennis is in such a rich vain of form with Tom's and Roan's achievements, both domestically and internationally,” said Parry.

"Both of them are pushing for world rankings, which I am sure will come soon given their talent.

"I hope that the junior players in the county can look at both of them as role models for years to come.

"Good luck to Tom who is pushing for a top three Masters finish, and to Roan who will soon return to the USA after transferring from Alabama University to University North Carolina to push his tennis career forward.”

Pictured: Tom Loxley impressively won a second tier Lexus British Tour title at Ilkley while Roan Jones, his Shropshire team mate, reached the main draw of an ITF tournament in Tunisia