Quarter-finals pose more problems for Norfolk’s Richard Bloomfield
Norfolk's Richard Bloomfield concluded the month of August by reaching the quarter-finals of consecutive tournaments in London.
The first came at Sutton Tennis Club in an AEGON British Tour event and was followed by a close loss at a $10,000 Futures world ranking event in Chiswick.
Bloomfield, seeded one for the British Tour at Sutton, had little trouble in the early rounds, making quick work of Harry Meehan from Lancashire in his first match.
Surrey's Adam Skalsky was dispatched in similar fashion as Bloomfield made good progress on an extremely bouncy court surface.
However, his fortunes took a dip as world number 818 Neil Pauffley brought the Norfolk man's run to an end in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4.
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Pauffley, from Berkshire, lost to Andrew Fitzpatrick from Warwickshire in the semi-finals who in turn, retired before playing Surrey's Tom Burn in the final.
A strong $10,000 Futures event in Chiswick saw Bloomfield seeded third and drawn against Miles Bugby from Sussex in round one. Bugby caused some bother in the opener and a tie-break was needed to decide the set before Bloomfield found an extra gear to close out the match 7-6, 6-3.
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Oliver Hudson, 10 years Bloomfield's junior, proved a real handful in round two and gave the third seed a scare after coming from behind to force a third set.
Bloomfield steadied the ship and found a single break of serve to win 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 and book his spot in the quarters.
Again, though, the quarter-final was the end of the road as eventual finalist Tom Burn got the better of him in three sets.
It was in fact Bloomfield's third consecutive quarter-final exit as, at the beginning of the month he was forced to retire in unusual circumstances from a Futures at the Cumberland Club.
Having reached the last eight after two long matches, Bloomfield had his clothes and equipment stolen from his car overnight ahead of his match with Welshman Josh Milton and subsequently withdrew from the event.
Next week, a full roundup of the Norfolk Junior and Senior Closed tournament.
