Open dream ends for Barry

THE Australian Open dream ended for Limerick’s teenage tennis star Sam Barry this week.
Barry, who turned 18 this Wednesday, made history when he became the first ever Irish player to win a match in the Australian Open Junior Championships beating Russian Victor Baluda in three sets 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.
Ranked no. 64 in the world, Barry recovered from losing a first set tie break to defeat an opponent, who was ranked 15 places higher in the world standings.
The round one victory, in one hour and 36 minutes, booked a spot for Sam Barry against Britain’s Oliver Golding.
The teenager from Limerick’s Ennis Road was then defeated in the second round Golding - 6-7 (8-10), 6-3, 6-4.
The sixteen-year-old Golding was once a child actor in London productions of Scrooge and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as well as appearing in the feature length remake of the Disney classic Greyfriars Bobby.
A son of Michael and Jean - from his initial introduction to the sport in Limerick Lawn Tennis club at the age of six, Barry has been a member of Tennis Ireland’s National Training Programme since September 2007 and he trains at the BNP Paribas National Tennis Academy which is operated by Tennis Ireland at DCU in Dublin.
“Sam’s win at the Australian Open is hugely significant for us. He is the first player from the Academy to win a Grand Slam match and we have been working towards this day since we first opened the doors in 2005,” said Des Allen, Tennis Ireland CEO.
“To win his first match in his first Grand Slam is a huge achievement for Sam and his coaches, the Irish Sports Council and BNP Paribas, all of whom will take great satisfaction from this,” said Des Allen.
Added to his singles progress, the Limerick teenager also secured a win in the doubles competition. Together with his partner New Zealand’s Ben McLachlan, they defeated Barrett Franks and Jaden Grinter - 6-3, 6-3.
That straight sets victory set up a meeting with number four seeds, Chinese Taipai’s Liang-Chi Huang and Japan’s Yasutaka Uchiyama.
That ended the dream for Barry.
He had prepared for his Australian adventure by practicing with Limerick’s tennis pro Conor Niland.
After two wins in qualifying last week, Niland failed at the final hurdle to reach the main drawn of the Men’s Singles in the Australian Open.
Barry brought fine form to the Australian Open Junior Championships. Both Niland and Barry now await the updated world rankings on Monday, when the duo will expect to improve on their current standings.

Jerome O’Connell