There was mixed success for the eight Irish players in action on the opening day of the FBD Irish Open at Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club yesterday.
In an all-Irish clash, top seed Sam Barry had a 6-3, 6-3 victory over wild card Peter Bothwell. Barry broke the Ulsterman's serve in the opening game and this sole break was enough to give the Limerick man the opening set despite Bothwell showing great resolve and determination against his more experienced opponent. Barry's big hitting game proved too strong in the second set which he went on to win 6-3.
Aggressive play
The performance of the day from an Irish point of view came from
Rob Dudley
. The Dubliner beat Australia’s
Simon Ede
to gain his first points as a professional. Dudley, who is in college in the US, was 5-3 down in the opening set before winning seven games in a row with aggressive net play forcing the Australian into errors. He played a very consistent second set serving out the match 6-3.
Seventh seed
Daniel Glancy
was the other Irish winner in a packed day’s play. The seventh seed beat
Isaac Stoute
of Britain 6-4, 6-2. The Mayo man’s experience showed as Stoute, who came through the qualifiers, made some crucial errors at vital moments.
Donnybrook's David O'Hare put up a great fight against fourth seed Yannick Jankovits before losing in a tight three set match. O'Hare took the first set on a tie-break and was 4-2 up in the second set before some nerves appeared to set in as the Frenchman won four games in a row to take the second set and went on to win the third set 6-3.
Brendan Dempsey lost 7-6, 6-1 to Bruce Strachan. Dempsey, who came through the qualifying rounds, broke serve early on as Strachan showed signs of nerves and his play was very inconsistent while the Irishman began with some great tennis.
