Jordan Roberts came up against Mikk Irdoja from Estonia to open the Caversham International event at Les Ormes and was straight away put to the test by the powerful hitter.
Ground strokes Despite losing the first set 6-0 the De La Salle student grew in confidence, combining more of his ground strokes to take the game to a more competitive level in the second set.
It was no surprise to Roberts to lose the second 6-2, but banking the invaluable experience of competing at a higher level than he is accustomed to, Roberts said he thoroughly enjoyed the match and the occasion.
While on the adjacent court Jersey’s second representative, Jonathan Howell put in a good show against Simon Cauvard of France and similarly grew in confidence as the game progressed but lost the match 6-0, 6-3.
The ladies’ qualifiers will start this afternoon in the $10,000 event with four of Jersey’s outstanding juniors featuring.
JCG student Katie Gouyette is the first of the Jersey girls on court and the 16-year-old will face Aleksandra Razumova of Russia, ranked 1138 in the world.
Francesca Dubras will follow Gouyette onto court after returning to the Island for the event and takes on Great Britain’s Nicola Mooney, currently ranked 1402.
Kirsten McArthur is the youngest entry in the competition aged 14 and will face France’s Constance Sibille while 16-year-old Sarah Jones has been drawn against Natasha Hillyer, ranked 1059.
While the girls will find the competition difficult, playing against world ranked players, the advantage of going into the event as an under-estimated competitor can always cause some surprise results and it will be interesting to see how the ever-improving quartet have progressed since the last international event.
Qualifying rounds for the men and women will conclude today and the main draw action for the men gets going on Tuesday with the ladies starting on Wednesday.
