Isle of Man tennis player Billy Harris continued his fine form with success in the ITF World Tour in Sozopol, Bulgaria last week.

Having won back-to-back tournaments in England recently, the former Island Games medallist won the Santa Marina Cup titles in both the singles and doubles events in Bulgaria.

In the opening round of the singles competition, he got the better of Simeon Terzlev from the host nation 6-1 7-5, before dispatching Austria’s Sandro Kopp 6-2 7-6 in the next round. In the quarter-finals, Harris saw off the challenge of number one seed Alexandar Lazarov (Bulgaria) 6-4 6-2 before booking his place in the final with a hard-fought 6-3 3-6 7-6 win over Russia’s Yan Bondareskly in the semis.

In the final, the Manxman went up against Kai Wehnelt of Germany and sealed the title in straight sets with a 6-4 6-1 victory.

In the doubles, he teamed up with Alexander Donski from Bulgaria and they got the better of the hosts’ pairing Nesterov/Terzlev 6-4 6-4 in the opening round.

The duo then triumphed 7-6 6-1 over Germany’s Heck/Dragomirov in the quarter-finals before edging past the Bulgarian pair of Lazarov/Lazarov 7-6 4-6 10-7 in the semis. Harris and Donski went up against Bondarevskly (Russia) and Wehnelt (Germany) in the final and completed a good tournament by winning 6-1 6-4 to seal the doubles title.

l Billy would like to thank Albany Tennis Club and his sponsors: Stuart Colligon and all at Auxesia in the island, Mark Smith, Alexander and James Sofas, and Tim King of Cione Wellness Centre in Loughborough for all the help and support.