Nugent's odyssey ends

Ireland's Stephen Nugent finally bowed out of the Wimbledon junior event yesterday, but not without making a lasting impression. The 17-year-old went down in two sets to Jose De Armas, currently ranked fifth junior in the world in singles and first in the world in doubles.

Nugent's success at reaching the last 16 augurs well for the young Dubliner, who hopes to compete in the US Open in New York this summer.

Nugent began the match well, breaking his opponent in the second game for a 2-0 lead. But the Venezuelan broke back immediately and again in the fifth to take the first set 6-4.

The more experienced fifth seed physically dominated the match, though Nugent again showed his good hands and willingness to play the net. But again De Armas broke serve in the first and final games of the second set, as Nugent was pinned back by the ferocity of De Armas's ground strokes. The second set also finished 6-4.

"That guy has a contract with IMG," said brother and coach Michael Nugent. "He's in the world top 10 and he's played in eight Grand Slams, not one. This is Stephen's first.

"Stephen will have learned a lot from this. There is only 16 guys left in this draw. He could have won that match if he could have stepped it up a little bit, and that's what we've to work on. He needs to add more power to his game. But if he can mix it with that guy, he can mix it with anybody in the world," he said. Michael, a former Davis Cup player with Ireland, will continue to coach his brother and his cousin Karen, who reached the quarter-finals here several years ago. She is back playing after a long spell out because of illness.