There was no love lost on court three at Riverview yesterday as Owen Casey was confronted by possibly the most aggravating opponent he has ever had the misfortune to meet. Casey, the only Irish player to reach the last eight of the ITF Futures event generally did well to hold his cool before losing gracefully to the 23-year-old Australian Michael Hill 6-2, 6-7, 6-1.

Throughout the match, which lasted one hour and 55 minutes, Hill showed that he had the ability to beat the Irishman without adopting sneering tactics.

When things got tough for the Australian, as they clearly did in the second set, Hill's temperament was at its worst. He claimed he had strained a groin and had the physiotherapist on court just as Casey was on a roll. Then there was his seven-minute toilet-break when Casey had just completed a four-game winning streak to recover from 1-4 to 5-4.

"He's a fine player but his mental attitude is not funny," said Casey He's another Mac [McEnroe], up to all sorts of gamesmanship. When we were changing ends he remarked `you think you're a great player'."

"I would never lower myself to that level on court, it is very unprofessional," said Casey.

Hill's best attributes were whipping forehands and big serves. But a bad call visibly rattled him in the second set and he finished up losing the set on a tie-break 7-0.

The third set was something of an anti-climax. Hill who continued to swagger his way about the court rediscovered his best form and won the set with great ease.

Seeded five, the Australian was even more impressive when beating South Africa's Damien Roberts 6-2, 6-2 in the semi-final. He meets unseeded Noam Okun of Israel, a shock winner over Austria's Julian Knowle, the number two seed, in today's final (1 p.m.)