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Conor Gannon, a member of Ireland’s Davis Cup tennis team, recorded the biggest win of his career to date in beating Poland’s Filip Peliwo at last week’s AIG Irish Open at Carrickmines LTC.
Foxrock native Gannon (22), defeated the number 1 seed and former world number 1 ranked junior player Peliwo, on a 6/3, 7/5 scoreline in their second round match. Gannon had beaten compatriot Zach Murphy in the first round.
Peliwo, who has a career ATP world ranking high of 161, won the junior titles at both Wimbledon and the US Open during a stellar junior career but Gannon produced an excellent display of serving and controlled groundstrokes to secure a straight sets win. The local hero was unlucky to fall in the quarter finals of the tournament to another Polish player, Filip Pieczonka, on a tight 7/6, 7/6 scoreline.
Gannon heads back to the US this week where the Monkstown LTC member will complete the final year of a tennis scholarship at the University of Memphis. He was happy with how he played at last week’s Irish Open. “I played well across the week and the win over Peliwo will give me a lot of confidence going into my last year in Memphis. My ambition is to join the full-time professional tennis circuit when I complete my degree next summer and I’m feeling good about my tennis right now. The environment and set up over in Memphis gives me a great opportunity to develop and strengthen my game and I’m excited about what lies ahead for me”.
Photo: Sportsfile