Paul Hand, who at 34 is the senior citizen of the field in this week's Dolmen's Irish Open tennis championships at Templeogue, was almost sympathetic when explaining the chief reasons for his third round win over Joe Green.
"Joe is a good player but I think my lefty serve and experience unsettled him in the end," said Hand after his hard-pressed, 11-9 second set tie break win that puts him into tonight's quarter-finals against compatriot and number three seed Nick Gould.
His dismissal of Dubliner Green, a final year student at Harvard University, was only achieved after a intensely competitive match of eminently watchable rallies.
Hand often brought his renowned doubles expertise to his rescue in tight situations. Students of Wimbledon form will remember his superb partnership with Chris Wilkenson, especially in 1993 when they beat the reigning French champions, Paul and Murphy Jensen of the US, en-route to the quarterfinals.
Hand now spends most of the year coaching aspiring professionals at the Basingstoke training centre.
Ireland's John Doran got through, although carrying a knee injury, in his match with Britain's Rhys Hanger, the number nine seed. Doran was asked to outgun the talented Hanger in many rallies and generally succeeded for a 6-4 6-2 win.
Despite criticism, the tournament referee, Steve Mehigan, may well have felt justified in staging a women's Leinster championship match on the show court. With Tom Spinks, the top seed in the national event, battling on an outside court, the women's provincial tie between Karen Nugent and Russia's top seeded Julia Lutrova developed into a worthy encounter, won by Nugent ranked 29, nine places below her top seed opponent on the 14th point of a thrilling final set tie break.
