Stirling Uni tennis star Scott Duncan last week pulled off a spectacular win on home soil against an opponent ranked over 400 places above him.
Duncan beat Karol Drzewiecki 7-5 (6-4) 6-3 in sets, in the qualifying round of the Murray Trophy, held in Glasgow. The victory sent him through as a British qualifier into the 1st round proper following the scintillating display.
Talking of his victory, he said: “it’s certainly one of the bigger wins of my tennis career”, “people were watching live, they were watching online and there was just more media coverage”.
He added: “to play the way I did and get the win was a special moment for me”.
The Stirling athlete competed well against a player ranked over 500 places higher than him in the next round, but it proved to be a step too far, eventually losing 6-3 6-3 to Johannes Haerteis of Germany.
The Murray Trophy, still in its infancy, is part of the ATP challenger series, the second highest level of men’s competition in tennis. Jamie Murray also featured in the tournament, playing his way to a final defeat in the doubles.
The Singles competition was won by 4th seed Emil Ruusivouri from Finland, getting the better of Frenchman Alexandre Muller.
The trophy gives lower ranked players an opportunity to progress further into the knockout rounds of a competitive tournament and improve their ATP rankings.
Scott Duncan hopes he can use this victory as a springboard to success, saying that: “I hope to improve my singles and doubles rankings further and this win certainly helps with my confidence in knowing that I can compete at that level”.
With no British players getting further than the round of 64, the Stirling player has put himself amongst the best the UK can offer within the Challenger series, following his success at the Murray Trophy, and on track to rise up the rankings.
Featured Image Credit: Lawn Tennis Association
4th Year Journalism Studies and Politics Student at Stirling University. Sports Editor. Bylines in Brig Newspaper and The Oban Times
