It was a day of doubles’ delight for Jonny O’Mara after he sealed opening round victories in both the gentlemen’s and mixed doubles at Wimbledon.
O’Mara, who benefits from the LTA’s NTC Access programme, providing cost-free access to courts, coaching, trainers and the LTA’s tournament bonus scheme, started Friday alongside Ken Skupski in the men’s event with their match suspended on Thursday.
And, having been in a commanding position overnight, the British duo beat Chileans Alejandro Tabilo and Julio Peralta 6-2 6-3 6-4 to kickstart their campaign.
That was not all for O’Mara, who later in the day started his mixed doubles campaign alongside Alicia Barnett with a thrilling 6-2 3-6 7-5 win over fifth seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Giuliana Olmos.
Playing with Skupski added a little extra pressure for O’Mara, with his partner retiring at the end of this tournament.
“Me and Ken played great on Thursday. We got off to an absolutely flyer which kind of put us in a pretty commanding position to come out on Friday. We didn’t play as well but we did what we had to do,” he said.
“To get to play on Court 18 with Ken was great. It’s his last tournament, so to be beside him on the court was pretty special.
“I’ve known him since I’ve started playing so I’m almost relieved we managed to play a good match to get that for him.”
While there was pressure on him in his first match of the day, the 27-year-old admitted he was a lot more relaxed later in the day in his mixed alongside Barnett.
He added: “I think that the men’s is what you focus on, what you play all year round so you’re probably a bit more stressed and you’re focusing on finding a way to win a bit more, whereas mixed it’s about having good energy, taking in the surroundings a bit more.
“I was looking around quite a lot think about how good it was, being out there playing underneath Centre Court on Court 5. The crowd was great and you’re just able to take it in a bit more.
“The third set was a great level set, everyone served well, and the last game was a bit of a nail-biter. They tried to get us into the tie-breaker but Alicia was having none of it – she played great.
“Fortunately I was able to put the ball on the court on the match point – it’s a great feeling.”
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