AFTER four days of poor weather, the Lexus Ilkley Trophy finished on a high with four days of sunshine.

And what’s more the final three days were sold out on Centre Court at Ilkley Lawn Tennis & Squash Club, justifying tournament director Rik Smith’s decision to increase the seating capacity there from 750 to 1,100.

The singles winners were Australia’s Jason Kubler and Sweden’s Mirjam Bjorklund, with the latter becoming quite emotional when interviewed on Centre Court.

In the wake of defeating top seed Emma Navarro (United States) 6-4, 7-5 in the final to seal the biggest title of her career, as well as bridging a rankings gap of 107 places, the world No 175 admitted: “I liked it last year at Ilkley and I like it even more now.

“It feels incredible and I could not be happier, but it is about small margins.

“I’ve kind of felt my level has gone up and it feels very nice getting kind of a receipt on what I’ve been feeling.

“The results are just an added bonus, but I really have had a lot of fun this week. I’m really very happy with the title.”

As for the venue, Bjorklund, who defeated defending champion Dalma Galfi in the semi-finals, said: “It’s very nice here: the scenery, the people, everybody is very nice and helpful.

“I really appreciate this tournament, the organisation and everybody, they’re always trying their best to make it as good as possible for us. It’s just an amazing atmosphere. I really like being here.”

She got a bit teary when thanking her mum for her support all week at the $100,000 ITF Women’s World Tour event.

Kubler won the $125,000 ATP Challenger event that was held alongside the women’s event and will head to Wimbledon, via a grass-court tournament in Mallorca, on a high.

A semi-finalist five years ago, the 30-year-old defeated Austria’s Sebastian Ofner 6-4, 6-4 in the final.

After a career that has been blighted by six knee operations and knowing that another would finish him off, the current Australian Open men’s doubles champion said after winning his first grass-court title: “It feels special.

“I have had a good grass-court season, reaching the quarter-finals at Surbiton and having a pretty tough match against Ugo Humbert at s’Hertogenbosch last week.”

Added Kubler: “Having plenty of matches on grass has been the main goal, I am super happy and I hope that the good results keep coming.”

As for his final against Ofner, he said: “Sebastian is a great player who can play on all surfaces, but I executed my game pretty well and he double faulted in the two games where I broke him.

“I put a good return in at 30-30 in the second set and then he double faulted, but in all of these matches it is just a point here or there, and if I had lost them it could definitely have gone the other way.

“It was good to win five successive matches, including some three-setters. It was important to get that winning feeling, and last year I didn’t have a single grass-court match going into Wimbledon.

“I have good memories of qualifying there twice and, last year, making the fourth round, and I am definitely feeling comfortable on the surface.”