JB PICKARD will be playing his first LTA British Tour final at the very familiar venue of Ilkley Lawn Tennis & Squash Club today [Saturday].

The 19-year-old home club member will face fellow teenager Ben Hudson in the decider after both ousted the leading two seeds in the semi-finals.

Defending champion and second seed Jordan Reed-Thomas was defeated 6-4, 6-4 on the second show court by unseeded 17-year-old Hudson.

Meanwhile, on Centre Court, top seed Clay Crawford, 27 and from Leeds like Reed-Thomas, lost 6-3, 6-4 to qualifier Pickard.

The latter, who has just completed his initial year at Samford University in Alabama, had previously reached the semi-finals of an LTA British Tour event at Wrexham.

Pickard said of his match against Crawford, who is on the comeback trail: “I played very well for a set and a half but when I was 3-0 up in the second set I felt a bit of cramp in my quad and let him back in it a bit and he also played well.

“But he was also struggling with cramp and it was just a scrap in the end.”

The earlier quarter-finals were all played indoors, with Crawford beating Adam Groves 6-1, 6-2, Pickard seeing off eighth seed Matthew Doe 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8) and Reed-Thomas beating talented qualifier Stefan Cooper (Devon) 6-4, 6-4.

The women’s singles, in contrast, has run according to the seedings.

In that, top seed Brooke Black, 14, will face second seed Amy Leather.

Black, from London, ended the run of Huddersfield 15-year-old Molly Robinson 6-3, 6-2 in one semi-final that was full of physical endeavour, while wild card Leather defeated Mia Wainwright 6-4, 6-1 in the other.

Robinson, from Denby Dale, said: “I have enjoyed my week but didn’t play as well as I would have liked against Brooke, although she played well “

The Huddersfield youngster’s previous best effort in an LTA British Tour event was a quarter-final indoors in Glasgow last October.