Ireland's Sam Barry and Daniel Glancy both advanced to the quarter-finals of the FBD Irish Tennis Open at Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club today.
Fourth seed Barry had a comfortable victory against Benjamin Lock of Zimbabwe, winning 6-1, 6-3 in the tournament’s second round.
Barry started well, with his forehand and serve proving particularly effective as he raced through the opening set.
Lock, who came through the qualifiers, appeared to be suffering from nerves in front of the home crowd, but the Zimbabwean appeared to be more settled in the second set, which was a far closer affair, before the Limerick man prevailed 6-3.
The points became longer in the second set as Lock started playing more aggressive tennis despite losing his serve early on.
The African had a break point in the final game, which Barry saved with a great forehand.
The Irish number two will be happy with his overall performance, with 20 winners in total, while only making eight unforced errors throughout the match.
A first serve percentage of 72% bodes well for the remainder of the tournament as the 21-year-old goes on to play France’s Maxime Tchoutakin in the last eight.
Glancy makes quarter-finals with straight sets win
Irishman Glancy had an impressive victory over Britain's Alexander Jhun in his second round encounter this evening, coming home 6-2 6-4, and dominating the match from the back of the court.
Jhun seemed happy to rally with the Irish Davis Cup player early on in the match, but it was Glancy who was proving to be more consistent, mixing up his game well while making very few unforced errors. He also had too much power and accuracy in his shots for Jhun who had few weapons in his game.
Glancy will play Tom Farquharson in the last eight.
O'Brien bows out after Farquharson defeat
However, there was also bad news in the second round for the Irish, with Colin O’Brien losing in three sets to Farquharson of Great Britain on a 6-0 4-6 6-2 scoreline.
The Irish Davis Cup player played poorly in the first set and failed to win a game.
He also failed to develop any rhythm in his game, which allowed Farquharson to dominate play.
Things improved hugely in the second set, with the Malahide man becoming more aggressive in his game, and his forehand in particular proving to be a dangerous weapon.
He broke serve at four games all, before serving out the set.
The third seed played far better in the deciding set, breaking O’Brien’s serve early on before closing out the match.
O’Brien will be happy with his performance, but will be disappointed with his number of mistakes along with his seven double faults throughout the match.
Farquharson, who saved 11 match points in his opening round victory, plays Glancy next.
McGee wins in Kentucky
Elsewhere, Irish number one James McGee pulled off a shock victory in a challenger tournament in Kentucky. The Castleknock man beat world number 136 and fourth seed Alex Kuznetsov 6-2 3-6 7-5.
