Tennis – Davis Cup:After scaling new heights by reaching the second round of the Australian Open, Louk Sorensen has been named in the four-man Ireland team to take on Turkey in the Davis Cup at the Fitzwilliam Tennis Club from March 5th-7th.
Sorensen enjoyed a great run in Melbourne after coming through three qualifying matches before playing two further games in the main draw.
That effort secured Sorensen a wild card entry into this week’s €85,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in Heilbronn, Germany. Unfortunately the Stuttgart-based player lost his opening match to Switzerland’s Stephane Bohli 6-2, 6-3 yesterday.
In the Davis Cup Sorensen will be joined by Conor Niland, who also gave a good account of himself in Melbourne and almost made it into the main draw, only to lose his third and final qualifying match.
James McGee and Barry King complete the Irish quartet to take on Turkey.
“We are really hopeful that this event will be a sell out,” said Des Allen, Tennis Ireland chief executive. “This is the first opportunity for the Irish tennis public to see Louk (Sorensen) in action following his great run at the Australian Open.”
“We need to win this one (against Turkey) because we then put ourselves in a position to host Britain in a second round tie in July. That would simply be a huge opportunity for Irish tennis.”
Sorensen’s father Sean is the non-playing captain of the Irish side and believes Turkey will be difficult opponents.
“Turkey are very tough first round opponents for us. Our guys know their top players and we know it will be difficult for us at Fitzwilliam,” said the captain.
“However, confidence in the Irish camp is very high because our guys have had the best start to the season that you could possibly hope for. On top of that, home advantage counts for a lot in Davis Cup”.
Ireland team (v Turkey):
(Fitzwilliam Tennis Club, March 5th-7th, 2010)
Louk Sorensen
Conor Niland
James McGee
Barry King