FOUR of the best young female players in Great Britain have been handed wild cards into the main draw for the Fuzion 100 Ilkley Trophy next week.

They are world No 168 Gabriella Taylor, Harriet Dart (198), Katie Swan (216) and Maia Lumsden (428).

Taylor, who is the British No 5, almost pulled off a shock win in her first WTA main draw debut last week in the Nature Valley Nottingham Open, losing 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (7-3) to proven grass-court player and defending champion Donna Vekic. 

The 20-year-old also reached the quarter-finals the previous week in the Fuzion Surbiton Trophy, defeating Heather Watson 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 along the way.

Dart, 21, has already reached the quarter-finals in the Manchester Trophy last week and the semi-finals at Surbiton, while 19-year-old Bristolian Swan qualified for the Nottingham Open, rather than having to rely on a wild card.  

However, Dart is ranked 169 in doubles and is 100 places higher in singles than she was when she played at Ilkley a year ago.

Swan won her sixth ITF title in Monzon, Spain, as recently as last month, while 20-year-old Scot Lumsden reached the finals of an ITF tournament in her home city of Glasgow earlier this year.

The wild cards into the men's singles draw are also all British - national No 6 Alex Ward, plus youngsters George Loffhagen, Aiden McHugh and Jack Draper.

Ward, 28, from Norfthampton is on the comeback trial after being out for five months with golfer's elbow, which particularly affected his serve and forehand.

Loffhagen and McHugh are both 17, and ranked 892 and 957 respectively, while Draper is only 16 and unranked.

The prize money for the ATP Challenger is $150,000, while the prize money for the ITF Women's Circuit tournament is $100,000.  

Men's qualifying starts today at 11am, with the women's qualifying beginning tomorrow at the same time, with the finals of both events being played a week tomorrow.

Tickets are available from https://www.theticketfactory.com/ltaci/online/