Brave Ralston shines but Ulster fall short again
DESPITE Caleb Ralston’s best efforts, Ulster’s senior inter-provincial trophy drought has extended in to a 35th year as they had, once again, had to settle for the runners up spot at Windsor on Saturday night.
The Lurgan teenager (below) won all three of his singles matches, without the loss of a set, but a 3-3 draw with Leinster in the final match left the two sides level on points with Munster the clear winners. Earlier in the day, Ulster, who had opened with a 5-1 win over Connacht on Friday night, lost 4-2 to the eventual winners.
It could easily have gone the other way, had the hosts won the men’s and ladies doubles, both of which went to a third set.
But defeats for Przemek Stec and his partner Ciian McDonnell along with the McCullough twins Annie and Caitlin, left Ulster with too much to do.
They needed to beat Leinster 6-0 and hope that Munster dropped a match against Connacht but it wasn’t to be.
Coach Stuart McQuitty said: “Unfortunately, we lost all five of the matches that went to three sets and, in my role, I do feel responsible. I wasn’t able to positively influence the result and that was massively disappointing. The players gave their all but Caleb, in particular, was magnificent on his senior Ulster debut, winning all his three matches at number one singles in straight sets.”
This week, the attention turns to the Under-18 and Under-16 inter-pros which begin today in Claremorris, Co Roscommon. • WORLD number one Rafael Nadal beat unseeded Stefanos Tsitsipas to win the Rogers Cup in Toronto, bringing the 20-year-old’s stunning run to an end.
Tsitsipas, who celebrated his birthday yesterday, beat Dominic Thiem, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev en route to the final but lost 6-2 7-6 (7-4).
Simona Halep secured her second Rogers Cup title with a thrilling victory over Sloane Stephens in Montreal.
In a repeat of this year’s French Open final, also won by Halep, the world number one ran out a 7-6 (8/6) 3-6 6-4 winner in a pulsating match of high quality and high drama.