Tennis:A one-year wait culminated in celebration for Rathfarnham youth Barry King who realised an immediate ambition by winning the Danone Irish Junior (under-18) Open tennis championship at Fitzwilliam on Saturday.
King, the top seed and red-hot favourite to take the senior title 12 months ago, was forced out with an arm injury and since then had dropped in the ratings. He went into this tournament as third seed.
His cool composure was a factor against a talented left-hander, Morgan Dunne of Stillorgan, in Saturday's final. After winning in an hour and a half, 7-5 6-1, King, who ominously dropped his first service game, confessed: "I was a bit nervous at first but once I won the first set my confidence grew."
Dunne was sometimes his own worst enemy, often misjudging the court's geometry - the net seemed too high for his well-executed ground strokes and the court seemed too short. Even on match point he over-hit to add to his mounting number of unforced errors.
King went for the lines to far greater effect and maintained good depth and pace off the ground. He broke back in the eight game for 4-4 and again in the 12th to pocket the first set.
The second set was a lot easier against an increasingly erratic number four seed.
Leigh Walsh, of Sutton, won the longest match of the day, a three and a half hour girl's intermediate marathon, beating Tramore's Andrea Maughan 7-5 5-7 7-6.
Kate McNulty of Limavaddy avenged last year's final defeat by rebuffing Larne rival Lynsey Smythe in a protracted senior decider.
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