Nugent eases past Brooks

Another performance full of confidence and verve earned Ireland's Stephen Nugent a place in the third round of the junior competition…

Another performance full of confidence and verve earned Ireland's Stephen Nugent a place in the third round of the junior competition at Wimbledon.

Nugent's dominant 6-3, 6-1 win over Britain's Richard Broooks gives the Dunliner a chance now to emulate his cousin Karen who made the quarter final several years ago.

"I played a lot on clay and wasn't getting the results. It's not my surface. So all I've been working on is getting up to the net and being confident," he said.

"I've been really nervous, but thriving on it and loving it at the same time. I really like the atmosphere here and I believe there is better tennis in me.

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"Karen got to the quarters and that was very good. I was saying maybe if I play well I can go out and beat that." We laugh about it. But now I feel confident of being able to do that."

Brooks never got a look in as Nugent constantly threatened his serve and held his own with some ease. Playing the net with confidence as he did against German Denis Gremelmayr in the first round, Nugent is now likely to meet a seeded player in the next round.

Johnny Watterson

Johnny Watterson

Johnny Watterson is a sports writer with The Irish Times