Ireland's Eoghan Jennings missed out on the Australian Open boys' singles main draw after losing 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to Greek opponent Odysseas Geladaris in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The 17-year-old Westport native beat Polish opponent Jan Sadzik in his qualifier semi-final to set up a showdown with Geladaris in the final.
As was the case against Sadzik, Jennings lost the first set, but he levelled things up by taking the second before Geladaris went up a gear in the decider to progress to the first round proper.
Geladaris is ranked number 77 in the ITF Juniors world rankings, with Jennings 133rd.
Jennings was aiming to become the first Irish junior to make the first round of the boys' singles since Simon Carr in 2017.
He will head back to Mayo with lots of positives to take from the experience. Jennings only made the cut for the tournament after a number of other players dropped out.
The qualifiers took place in the city of Traralgon, with the main event being played at Melbourne Park from 24 January to 1 February.
