Bjorn Thomson’s Irish Open journey comes to an end

Ireland's Bjorn Thomson's great run at the FBD Irish Open in Fitzwilliam came to an end when he lost in straight sets to Lloyd Glasspool.

Thomson, who has been a revelation this week coming through the qualifiers to reach the semi-finals, was beaten 6-3, 6-4.

The match, as was predicted, was a battle between Glasspool’s big hitting game against the Irishman’s counter attacking style which has been so effective all week.

The crucial moment in the opening set came in the eighth game when Thomson, aged just 17, made a backhand error on break point allowing Glasspool to capture his serve.

The first seven games of the second set all went with serve before Thomson had a break point opportunity in the eighth game. Glasspool hit a big serve but Thomson will be disappointed that he missed the forehand return in a game of such fine margins.

Unforced errors

The English player proceeded to break Thomson’s serve in the next game when two unforced errors from the young Irishman along with a winning smash secured the all important break.

Glasspool will play fellow Englishman Daniel Smethurst in the final after he came through an epic battle with Dan Evans, who beat Ireland's Sam Barry in the last round.

Smethurst showed great resolve coming from a set down to win 1-6, 6-4, 7-5.

In the thrilling all-Irish doubles final, top seeds David O'Hare and Sam Barry beat Bjorn Thomson and Simon Carr 10-3 in the champions tie-break.