It will be an Ireland v Germany battle for the major haul of ITF world junior (under-18) ranking points in the boys' final of the KSwiss-sponsored event at Riverview today.
Top seed David Mullins, whose last exposure to top flight competition was at Wimbledon juniors this year, had trouble in justifying his top rating against the number three seed Nick Malone .
But Mullins came through 7-4 in a final set tie-breaker to qualify for a final in which he will face the talented Christian Straka ranked seventh at under-16 level in Germany.
The German's ambition to be a full-time professional is largely due to his admiration of Pete Sampras. Surprisingly he admits to never having been influenced by his compatriot Boris Becker.
Perhaps he was fortunate yesterday in finding an off-form Sean Cooper whose service game alone revealed weaknesses in the second set. The windy conditions presented problems for both players but Straka's more flexible match plan, notably his sudden switch from slice to pace off the ground, added to the Irish player's difficulties. Cooper's serves and returns let him down in the second set which he lost 7-6, 6-2.
Cooper still has what is arguably the heaviest serve in the country.
Mullins, after losing the first set to Malone, led 5-2 in the final set and then had a string of match points on Malone's serve in the ninth game. Malone made the favourite wait that little bit longer and again made a part recovery in the tie-break despite a 0-5 deficit.
