Mchugh defeat adds to British semi-final woes
Another British semi-finalist lost yesterday when Aidan Mchugh was eliminated from the junior event by sixth-seed Chun Hsin Tseng, of Chinese Taipei.
The match was interrupted by a thunderstorm late in the second set, and had to be resumed on the indoor courts of Melbourne’s National Tennis Centre. But the switch did not seem to influence the result. Mchugh committed too many errors down the home stretch as he suffered a frustrating 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 loss.
“We went from outdoors to indoors, so it was a bit different,” said Mchugh, a 17year-old Glaswegian who joined Andy Murray’s management company in November.
“But it was the same for him as well. It’s a shame because I would have liked to play in the final. But every time you do well you’re a little bit clearer about how you should be playing and what works best for you.”
As for Britain’s senior semifinalist, Kyle Edmund put out a statement saying: “Thank you Australian Open. What an amazing couple weeks. Sorry I didn’t get the win but thank you for all the support, it meant the world to me.”
Edmund is nursing the hip injury that slowed him down in Thursday’s semi-final against Marin Cilic, but still plans to fly to Marbella on Monday in preparation for next weekend’s Davis Cup tie against Spain. His fitness will be assessed by the medical team on site before a decision on selection is made.
Britain’s Davis Cup captain, Leon Smith, said: “One thing about the competition is that I know the guys really enjoy it. I had dinner with Kyle and his team last week and so much of the conversation was about the Davis Cup, even though he had a grand slam quarter-final next day. He is genuinely excited to be going to Marbella, and that means we are doing our job, and the competition is still something they want to be in involved in.”
As for the next generation, Smith said: “All three boys who came out for the juniors here are really good players. George Loffhagen and Jack Draper lost early but they are on an upward curve.” Those two are also only 16, so they will have another year of juniors ahead of
them in 2019.