The ITF K-Swiss tournaments can make or break young tennis careers. This is why so many under-18 prospects from all over Europe and beyond have converged on Riverview in Dublin this week - they hope the tournament will be the making of them.
In the first round yesterday, Mark Weaver of Britain, the number two seed, was the main casualty among the seeds who lost out against challenges of a quality that was unexpected.
One of the unseeded members of the German squad, Philip Marx, was the giant killer of the day, ousting Weaver in straight sets.
Dubliner David O'Connell, the number five seed, was also among the early dismissals, but only after a tense and exciting baseline battle with Britain's unseeded Anthony Perkins. O'Connell failed to capitalise on a cluster of match points and Perkins, from Warwickshire, won the last four games of a tight final set.
O'Connell failed to close the match down despite leading 5-3 in the deciding set.
Top seed Stephen Nugent showed great resilience after arriving from the Bollitieri Academy in Florida on Sunday to fend off the tenacious challenge of Britain's Robert Green.
Elsa O'Riain followed up her success in Europe last week with victory over Ani Manet of Spain.
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