Glasgow’s McHugh bridges gulf with first senior win
AIDAN McHugh was out in Meshref in Kuwait last week but the main gulf was the one in class between him and the rest of the field.
The outdoor hard courts at the ramshackle Kuwaiti National Tennis Centre might not represent the most glamorous of tennis surroundings but they will always have a special place in the affections of Andy Murray’s 18-year-old prodigy from Bearsden as the site where he won his first senior trophy.
With an overall prize purse of £15,000, the cash on offer for the Kuwait F1 futures event won’t exactly be life-changing for the young Scot. In fact, most of it will be eaten up by his travelling and living expenses. But it is another giant step on the ladder as this young man, an Australian Open junior semi-finalist earlier this year, bids to have a profitable career at the sharp end of the sport.
Having started the tournament ranked World No 704, he is projected to rise to 584 by the time the next set of rankings emerge. And who knows, with him already through the first round of another Kuwaiti Futures event, perhaps these tournament wins might turn out to be a bit like Glasgow buses.
“Aidan has made two or three semi-finals this year and I think it was in September down at one of the British tournaments at the same level, a 15k down in Barnstaple, where he made the final,” said his coach Toby Smith, who joined him out in the gulf state only this weekend after he had travelled out alone.
“In the last couple of months he has been consistent with his performances and managed to get some really nice wins against players who are ranked between 250 and 300. It is really pleasing.”
By the numbers, the 7-5, 6-3 win against Germany’s Peter Heller [the World No 296 and the No 1 seed in the tournament] was the most significant scalp of the week, although the teenager also showed guts to come through 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-2 his final against Alec Adamson of the USA in the final.
“His semi-final win in particular was a very good win,” said Smith.
“He was 5-2 down in the first set then from that point on he played flawless tennis. He is starting to realise that the performance goals are the bigger picture, playing your game, coming forward, being aggressive on his forehand. If you do these things, the things you are very good at, it increases your chances of winning matches.
“In the final [against Alec Adamson of the USA] he was a little nervous, and the second set might have been frustrating for him because he was doing all the front running but played a few cheap points in the tie break and lost it. But he is starting to get a bit more mature.
“He went for a toilet break, probably did a bit of the Andy Murray stuff, looking himself in the mirror. Probably six or 12 months ago, he would probably been so annoyed at himself about losing the second set that he would have lost the match. So the fact that he won it quite comfortably was very pleasing indeed.”
‘‘ He went for a toilet break, did a bit of the Andy Murray stuff