Jared Monaghan wins Ulster title

The Dunedin Open is traditionally the first major junior tennis tournament of the season and it took place at Lurgan last week. With the considerable amount of ranking points at stake, it was no surprise that the standard of play was very high.

Jared Monaghan from Enniskillen Tennis Club was seeded two in the U12 boy's event. His first match was against an opponent who came through the qualifying rounds. Although Jared played well enough to win in straight sets, he knew he had to raise his game for the final where his opponent was the number 1 seed Matthew O'Boyle.

Matthew and Jared had only played last month in a qualifying match for the National matchplays where Jared narrowly missed out. So it was all to play for in the final but the signs looked ominus for Jared as he quickly fell behind 5/2 in the first set. However, Jared is well known for his battling qualities and he was not ready to give up the fight. With dogged determination, he hauled himself back into the match to level at 5-5 and then proceeded to take first set 7/6 in the tiebreak. It was clear from the end of the first set that Jared now had the upper hand and he sealed the victory 6/0 in the second set to win this coveted title.

His coach Matthew Mc Gann commented that "his success is closely linked to his hard work in training. In this respect he sets a fine example to other juniors in the club".

Three other boys from Enniskillen Tennis Club also participated in the Dunedin event and this was their first competition outside their local club. Matthew Duffy, Conor Mc Shea and Sean Dillon took part in the U14 boy's event. All three have shown a great appetite for the game in recent months and this was evident in their performances. This will undoubtedly prove to be a great experience for these rapidly improving players and their names are likely to feature prominently in the future.

Alison Glass and Laura Beirne also played the under 14 girl's singles. Although both met with stiff opposition in this highly competitive event, the girls did not come home empty handed, because Laura went on to win the plate.