Luke Milligan, a sprightly 22-year-old Londoner with a promise of a wild card for Wimbledon to brighten his summer, scotched Owen Casey's plans of success in the ITF Futures final at Riverview in Dublin on Saturday.
In the end it was clearly a lack of stamina that sabotaged the Irishman's chances. He suffered the consequences of having been off the tennis circuit for almost two years and having an hour longer semi-final than Milligan. After winning a two and a quarter hour match 5-7 7-5 6-1, Milligan expressed understanding for Casey's handicap. "Having to stay out there in warm conditions for an hour longer in his semi-final made a huge difference." The unusual format, whereby the semi-finals and final were played on the same day, was caused by midweek matches having to be called off due to rain.
Casey, who had beaten John Doran in his semi-final, survived a number of break points in the first set of the final. However, he broke in the third, ninth and eleventh games to pocket the set 7-5. "I knew if I could nick the second set I would be able to run him off is feet in a third," Milligan said. And it worked out exactly to plan for the Englishman.
Singles (semi-finals): - L Milligan (Brit) bt S Iwabuchi (Jpn) 6-3 6-2; O Casey bt J Doran 6-4 3-6 6-2; Final: - Millgan bt Casey 5-7 7-5 6-1; DOUBLES (final): - D Bracciali and I Gaudi (Ita) bt J Erlich and A Hadad (Isl) 6-4 3-6 6-3.
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