Sport

Motivation high as match with Britain the reward

TENNIS: JOHNNY WATTERSON talks to Ireland’s rising star Louk Sorensen after his good start to the season

Thu Mar 04 2010 - 00:00

TENNIS: JOHNNY WATTERSONtalks to Ireland's rising star Louk Sorensen after his good start to the season

LOUK SORENSEN is a reluctant poster boy. He doesn’t like the attention. “I’d just prefer to hang around with the guys and play tennis,” he says. His foray into the second round of the year’s first Major, the Australian Open, sent a message that Irish tennis has not capitulated at international level.

That Conor Niland fell within grasp of first round qualification in Melbourne highlighted that Ireland is moving forward, albeit inch by inch. Sorensen doesn’t want to hear it but he is the best Irish tennis story in almost 30 years and the first Grand Slam qualifier since Matt Doyle in 1985.

In Dublin this week for a sold-out Davis Cup match against Turkey in Fitzwilliam, the 25-year-old may be carrying a hamstring injury, over which there is some anxiety, but he’s not unaware that seats have been filled by fans hungry to glimpse an Irish Grand Slam player.

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Now ranked at 226 in the world, Sorensen has a short way to go to break his father Seán’s career high ranking of 203, but this season himself and Niland, ranked 241, are more fearlessly eyeing top end events, the Challengers, ATP tournaments and Grand Slam qualification.

“We have a lot of confidence right now and can compete with any players. I learned that in Australia,” says Sorensen. “It is a significant difference. I was beginning to think like that in Chennai, India, where I played just before the Australian Open. I qualified there, beat a couple of good guys and had a lot of confidence going to Australia.

“I was able to stay healthy for a coupe of months and I could work on a number of things and that helped me. [Previously] I had knee surgery and tore my hamstring, which is my trouble today, did both my ankles and a couple of stomach injuries. It was a lot.”

This season’s opening has been the best for the two senior players on the Ireland team. Niland says there is a buzz that has not been there before, a level of interest that has lifted the entire team. It is all because of relative success, Sorensen’s breakthrough.

“It raises everyone’s belief,” says team-mate James McGee. “That’s one of the things we have to do in Irish tennis, raise belief.”

Casablanca, Italian Challengers and perhaps the BMW Munich Open are in Sorensen’s clay court sights. Then it’s a tournament on grass before Wimbledon qualifiers at Roehampton.

“I’m looking forward to the season. I like to play on clay and I’ve had some good results against players like (Dominik) Hrbaty,” he says. “Also Wimbledon, I played there in 2008. I was up a set and a break against Vasselin (Edouard), who won a round in the main draw but I had to retire because of my stomach problem. Yeah, I’m looking forward to Wimbledon as well.

“At the beginning of the year I said if I could qualify for one Slam in 2010 . . . I’ve reached that goal already. I’ll try to qualify for the French, which is very tough, but I think I can do it. The long term goal is to get into the top 100. Around 102 or 103 would get entry into the Slams. I think I can do it but I have to stay healthy.”

The weekend holds not just the prospect of moving through the competition and earning Davis Cup promotion. A win could earn Ireland a meeting with Britain in Dublin. Andy Murray’s name has been mentioned but the player himself has shown no conviction that he will play. “Motivation is high,” says Sorensen. “We know Britain will be waiting for us.”