Britain’s Jordanne Whiley narrowly missed out on consecutive tournament titles on her return to international wheelchair tennis after giving birth.

The 26-year-old was beaten 3-6 6-2 6-4 by Italian world number five Giulia Capocci in the final of the Bolton International Indoors.

Last week, Whiley won singles and doubles titles at the Wrexham International.

“I didn’t expect to make any finals so I can’t be disappointed,” she said.

“I had never played Giulia before and hadn’t seen her play so to go three sets with her was good.

“I’ve made massive progress.”

Whiley, who won her fourth consecutive Wimbledon women’s doubles title in July 2017, had baby Jackson in January 2018 and returned to domestic action in December’s National Championships where she won her fifth title.

To earn a world ranking again, the two-time Paralympic bronze medallist needed to play in two international tournaments and her performances in Bolton and Wrexham will see her return to the top 40 in the world.

On her way to the Bolton final, she beat world number three Aniek van Koot of the Netherlands while she defeated ninth ranked Katherina Kruger of Germany in the Wrexham decider.

“I didn’t expect to do as well against top-10 players,” added Whiley, who was watched on in Bolton by Jackson and partner Marc.

“Against Aniek I thought I was going to lose and I was prepared to lose but when it was close in the first set, I thought ‘this is winnable’, but I still knew it would be tough.

“Giulia played very well but I was tired and my body was hurting after ten matches in two weeks – I’m not used to it anymore.

“It has been hard combining tennis and mum duties because I miss Jackson when I’m away. I have heard him crying when I’ve been playing but Marc and my mum were here so he is being well looked after.”

Next up for Whiley is another indoor tournament in Biel, Switzerland and she will travel to Korea in April for more events in a bid to get her ranking high enough to be considered for a wildcard for Wimbledon in July.