JORDANNE Whiley was upbeat after reaching the women’s doubles final in her first competition of the season.

The 12-time Grand Slam winner, who lives in Steventon, finished runner-up with fellow Brit Lucy Shuker at the Loughborough Indoor Wheelchair Tennis Tournament.

The pair lost out to Dutch duo Jiske Griffioen and Aniek van Koot at the first LTA international competition in Britain for 12 months, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Two-time Paralympic bronze medallists Whiley and Shuker made a fine start against the Rio 2016 champions, before slipping to a 4-6, 6-4 (10-3) loss.

Despite the defeat, Whiley was in a positive mood.

She said: “It was really quite positive and although we didn’t win I felt like it was one of our better performances.

“We had a chance to do things we’ve been working on over the last year and it went well.”

Just 24 hours earlier the British No 1 and World No 4 rued a missed opportunity.

Having beaten Rio singles gold medallist Griffioen 6-3, 7-5 in her quarter-final after being 5-1 down in the second set, Whiley could not build on a commanding

last-four lead against third seed Dana Mathewson and the American prevailed 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.

She said: “To have that comeback against Jiske was great and the match was a pretty decent level.

“Then I was a set and 4-1 up against Dana and winning comfortably, but she turned it up a notch and I just didn’t, so I’m disappointed and frustrated.”