TENNIS: Kevin Sorensen's chances of winning the Danone Irish Indoor Open Championship title from an unseeded position get better every day at David Lloyd's Riverview.
After securing the right to meet top seed Peter Clarke in today's final, the cool and fluent Sorensen said: "I had fun out there today. I always felt I had a chance of reaching the final but I have had some tough matches on the way."
The Stuttgart-based 21-year-old also edged closer to following in his father Sean's footsteps and winning a Davis Cup spot by beating number three seed Seán Cooper in straight sets 7-6, 6-4.
As baseline matches go this one lacked little in verve and imagination and the 6ft 3in Sorensen was nerveless when playing for the major points.
His service game was impeccable and he dropped only two points on serves from the fourth game of the second set. He broke Cooper's serve in the seventh game of the second set and didn't look back from there.
The entertainment level never dropped over the two absorbing and competitive sets during which Cooper looked a likely winner on more than one occasion.
Neither Sorensen nor Cooper could have been quite sure as to who they would be meeting in the final. The other semi-final between full-timer Clarke and medical student Nick Malone from Greystones had ended on an adjoining court but one would have been led to believe that the scoreboard in favour of Clarke was incorrect judging from Clarke's reaction to his straights sets win.
The top seed apparently could not forget about some dubious calls that went against him and bashed his gear off the ground to demonstrate his disgust to the umpire, and everyone else.
If Sorensen is the new boy on the block, Rachel Dillon fills the role as the new girl on the Irish tennis scene poised for Fed Cup recognition.
The Dublin-born 16-year-old, who campaigns out of France, stoked up her game to generally leave number three seed Ann-Marie Hogan with too much to do.
Dillon's sliced backhand into Hogan's forehand caused the home-based player problems and too often the net seemed to be too high for Hogan.
Top seed Karen Nugent has yet to drop a set in the tournament following her 6-1, 6-2 win over Tipperary's Clodagh McMorrow.
"It should be interesting " says Nugent. "My target would have to be to get into control from the start."
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