IRELAND'S INTEREST in Junior Wimbledon was ended at the first-round stage yesterday as David Mullins was convincingly beaten by ninth seed Jean Rene Lisard in the boys' singles.

The Dubliner clearly suffered from his lack of experience at this level Lisnard was only the second top 20 player he had ever faced.third game and Mullins' naturally attacking game was upset.

"I was a bit nervous," said Mullins after losing 6-2, 6-2. "I should have kept trying to play my own game, but I got a bit hesitant about going to the net and made a lot of mistakes at the back of the court."

After conceding the opening set, a couple of foot faults contributed to an early break in the second and, although Mullins almost broke back in game four, the Frenchman came from 30-40 to clinch that game with an ace and rarely looked troubled again.