Byrne pulls off shock to reach quarters

JULIE BYRNE produced a shock when she beat No 7 seed Rushri Wijesundera in the Women’s Irish Open at the Carrickmines club to secure her place in the quarterfinals.

After taking the opening set, Monkstown member Byrne, who hasn’t played in a world-ranking event since last year’s Irish Open, stormed back from a break down in the second set to see off Ceylonborn Wijesundera 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 after two hours and 17 minutes.

The 21-year-old Dubliner, who represented Ireland in the Fed Cup in Bosnia in 2015, will now face the No 3 seed, Germany’s Lucy Ponomar, a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) winner yesterday over Briton Ema Lazic.

In the men’s event, Peter Bothwell was forced to dig deep to see off the gutsy challenge of Britain’s Joel Cannell in his second-round match.

After losing his opening service game in the world ranking event, the Irish No 2 subsequently found himself a set down in the first meeting of the two players.

And while the Co Down man managed to level the contest at one set all, he was extended to a tie-break in the deciding set before squeezing through on a 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7/3) scoreline after a marathon three hours and three minutes.

In the quarter-finals, No 7 seed Bothwell faces the No 3 seed, France’s Hugo Voljacques, a 6-1 6-4 winner yesterday over 18-year-old Co Armagh native Jordan McKeown.