An Irish junior tennis player produced a stunning comeback at the French Open to reach the second round of the boy’s singles.
Simon Carr, above, the 17-year-old of Mullingar, recovered after losing the first nine games of his match yesterday to defeat American Vasil Kirkov 0-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 in one hour and 43 minutes.
This is Carr’s first win at a junior grand-slam event, after making his debut at the Australian Open earlier this year. He is presently at No 63 in the junior world rankings, although he predominantly plays low-level ITF Futures events on the professional circuit in an effort to develop his game. Yesterday’s win, though, comes against an accomplished player in 18-year-old Kirkov, who is ranked 33 places ahead of Carr and has previously worked with Ivan Lendl, the eight-times grand-slam champion who is the head coach of Andy Murray.
Carr now faces an even tougher test today against Zsombor Piros, the No 4 seed of Hungary who won the Australian Open this year.
Carr is the son of former Dublin gaelic football player and manager, Tommy, who won all-star recognition in 1991. Carr himself represented Westmeath at under-14 level before turning his full attention to tennis.