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

Niland and Sam Barry join forces

LIMERICK tennis duo Conor Niland and Sam Barry have joined forces as they complete their preparations for the qualifying rounds of the Australian Open.
Later this week the local duo will attempt to win their way into the main draw of the first Grand Slam events of the new season.
For the last number of days Niland and Barry have practiced together in Melbourne.
Niland could be in action tomorrow as the senior qualifying rounds commences, but Barry’s efforts to qualify for the under-18 event won’t commence until next week.
One of the biggest obstacles facing the Limerick pair are the current temperatures of over 30 degrees celsius.
“After my match on the Monday Sam and I practiced together for a few days and then flew down to Melbourne together on the Friday where we’ve also had a few hitting sessions,” explained Niland.
Niland will be joined by Davis Cup team-mate Louk Sorensen in the senior event while Sam Barry will have fellow teenager John Morrissey for company in the under-18 event as Irish tennis enjoys its biggest representation for many years.
Niland and Sorensen clinched their places in the preliminary stages by achieving their ambition of finishing the tournament year of 2009 in the top 300 of the ATP singles world rankings. Niland is ranked 288 while Sorensen is ranked 294.
However the ultimate goal is to reach the main draw of the Australian Open.
Niland brings good recent form to Melbourne.
In his only competitive outing of 2010 he went tantalisingly close to qualifying in the $1,024,000 Exxon Open in Doha, Qatar. After overwhelming Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the second round of the qualifying series the 288-ranked Limerick man suffered a heartbreaking 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/4) defeat by Belgium’s Steve Darcis.
Niland will break from the ATP Tour in late February when he will return home to lead the Irish team in Davis Cup action against Turkey in Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club from March 5–7.

Jerome O’Connell