Hove tennis star Alicia Dudeney has continued her outstanding 2026 form by claiming the biggest singles title of her career.

The Sussex player lifted the Lexus British Pro Series Nottingham World Tennis W50 trophy at the Lexus Nottingham Tennis Centre, defeating fellow Brit Naiktha Bains in straight sets to secure her fifth singles title of the season so far.

The title marks another major milestone for Dudeney, who is from Hove and also made her Wimbledon debut, as a wildcard, this summer. She has now won eight singles titles since turning professional last year and has risen from being unranked to a career-high ranking of 224.

The number one seed showed throughout the week why she was the player to beat, dropping just one set on her way to the trophy. Four of her five victories came against British opponents, including eighth seed Victoria Allen in the quarter-finals and fifth seed Hannah Klugman in the semi-finals.

Alicia Dudeney has continued her outstanding 2026 form by claiming the biggest singles title of her career. Photo: LTA

placeholder image — Alicia Dudeney has continued her outstanding 2026 form by claiming the biggest singles title of her career. Photo: LTA

In the final, Dudeney faced sixth seed Bains, who had also enjoyed an impressive run to the showpiece match, losing just three games across her quarter-final and semi-final contests.

The opening set saw both players exchange breaks of serve before Dudeney won three games in a row to take control. The second set followed a similar pattern, with both players holding serve after an early break each before the match went to a tie-break.

Dudeney took charge of the breaker by moving into a 5-2 lead and, despite a late fightback from Bains, the Sussex native held firm to seal a 6-3, 7-6(5) victory.

After the match Dudeney, who also made her WTA Tour and Grand Slam main draw debuts this summer said: “I feel great, I think I played some really good tennis this week. Playing some bigger tournaments on grass [over the summer] and seeing the higher level definitely gave me motivation to keep improving my game and I think it’s given me a lot of confidence that I brought this week.”

There was further British success in the women’s doubles as Brooke Black claimed her biggest title to date alongside Kenya’s Angella Okutoyi.

The pair defeated three all-British teams on their way to the final, including third seeds Mika Stojsavljevic and eventual singles champion Dudeney in the semi-finals.

However, second seeds Victoria Allen and Amelia Rajecki were forced to withdraw from the final, handing Black and Okutoyi the title by walkover.

Following the conclusion of the singles final, LTA Tournament Director Kerry Smith said, “We enjoyed another great week of competition on court, with the Lexus Nottingham Tennis Centre providing a stellar venue for the event. After a clean sweep of titles for British men at the Lexus Nottingham Challenger last week, it was great to see those followed up by title-winning performances from British women, so a big congratulations to Alicia, Brooke and Angella for their strong showings.”

The Lexus British Pro Series Nottingham is part of the LTA’s Performance Competitions Calendar, which provides opportunities for British players to compete for ranking points and prize money on home soil throughout the year.

The next stop on the British summer swing is Aldershot, with a combined World Tennis M25 and W35 tournament heading to Aldershot Tennis Centre, while County Week also gets underway across the country as players compete in the Summer County Cup.