* The Brown Advisory Amateur Singles Championships 2026

This was the first year of a new format for the Amateur Championship with the singles draw continuing to be held in February and the Doubles moved to a weekend in May. The result was a much stronger field in terms of depth, therefore producing 5 days of high quality and competitive matches. The East and West courts were used for the R16 matches and quarter-finals, therefore mirroring the format change to the British Open and allowing the tournament to be shortened by 3 days. 

The pick of the R16 matches was an exciting 4-set battle between Ed Kay and Charlie Braham, which finished 6/5 in the 4^th set to the Cambridge player. It was great to see Braham back playing well on the Tennis court after a few years out with a nasty wrist injury. It was also pleasing to see a number of players making their debut in the Amateur Singles, with James Lamming and Charlie Elmitt enjoying the prospect of a first best of 5 match. 

In the quarter-finals, the pick of the matches was an upset on seeding with Ben Yorston defeating Jamie Giddins in another long 4-set battle. The rest of the seeds proceeded untroubled on to Saturday’s semi-finals. 

In the semi-finals, the top 2 seeds breezed past their opponents. The holder Robert Shenkman gave up only 2 games in defeating Yorston, and Ed Kay gave up only 4 games in beating Ned Batstone, therefore setting up a mouthwatering clash in the final. 

In the end, the final followed a similar pattern to Shenkman’s previous rounds in the tournament. Kay was unable to keep his play tight enough to prevent Shenkman striking for the grille and tambour, nor prevent him from obtaining gallery chases from the hazard end, which resulted in a steady stream of points won by the Manchester player. In the end, Kay fought hard and played his part in some entertaining rallies in front of a sizeable crowd, but he could not prevent Shenkman winning his 4^th consecutive Amateur Singles title. 

Brown Advisory were thanked for sponsoring the event for the first time, and it is hoped that another strong draw will enter the tournament again in 2027.