By Stephen Higgins | Sunday 2nd August 2026
Ireland’s Conor Gannon capped a great week at Carrickmines with the DLR Irish Open men’s title after a tense 7-6 6-7 6-4 victory over seventh seed Markus Molder.
With Sunday’s win, the 24-year-old earned his first ITF singles trophy and became the first Irishman to win the DLR Irish Open since Pete Bothwell in 2018.
While the Dubliner put on a formidable display in the final, his journey to it was less than straightforward. Early on, Gannon enjoyed some luck in staving off three match points in his opening round with Lorenzo Lorusso.
But the Irishman grew in confidence through the week as he convincingly dispatched three consecutive seeds in Dimitris Azoidis (5), Matt Ponchet (3) and Daniel De Jonge (2) en route to the final.
Molder meanwhile was looking to add another Irishman to his list of victims for the week after dispatching Michael Agwi in the quarters before toppling Robin Catry (1) in the last four.
Sunday’s final opened with both men high in confidence. 21-year-old Moller began with two aces in the first game, an early demonstration of the Estonian’s firepower.
But Gannon, who has surged in confidence since his breakout win over Bernard Tomic at the Dublin Challenger, had plenty of weaponry on hand, particularly his serve.
Given the quality and form of both finalists, the first set unsurprisingly went to a tie-break.
Gannon continued his rich vein of serving into the decider and applied severe pressure with his relentless footwork and aggressive forehands. With the Irishman leading 6-5 in the tie-break, Molder misread a rally ball and sent a backhand flying. 7-6 to Gannon.
The 24-year-old then seemed to start the second set in a perfect balance of offensive focus. With Gannon at 2-1*, he engaged Molder in a brutal crosscourt forehand exchange before changing direction to force an error and break serve.
The Dubliner’s supreme delivery consolidated the break and he got within two games of triumph at 4-1. But Molder wasn’t done yet.
While the 21-year-old (above) impressed over the week with his easy power, his cool demeanour proved a good accomplice as he survived a particularly tough duel with Catry.
That calm kept Molder competitive in this final as he survived an onslaught of pressure on his next service game but held firm. Then, with Gannon in the ascendancy and Molder showing signs of fatigue, strong hitting from the Estonian broke the Irishman’s serve.
That turned the momentum of the second set as the seventh seed found a foothold in the final. Molder stuck with Gannon and forced another tie-break.
This time around, the 21-year-old took an early lead before Gannon reeled him back to 3-3. However, fighting with his own expectations as much as his opponent, the Dubliner’s game dipped and the Estonian took the last four points to level the match at a set apiece.
It was hardly a shock to see Gannon take a quick break from court to reset himself. Thankfully for the 24-year-old, and his encouraging supporters, he reshaped his frustration into fresh determination for set three.
In what was a gripping finale, Gannon battled to reclaim control of the match while Molder fought off fatigue to stay with him.
Both men held serve until the seventh game when Molder’s tank seemed to empty. He kept stretching limbs and taking more time between serves to prolong the contest.
But he couldn’t keep Gannon (above) at bay and the Irishman read the situation perfectly. A smart drop shot in the seventh game on Molder’s serve forged a break point. A solid return then resulted in an Estonian error and Gannon was two games from victory.
After a brilliant hold to consolidate the break, Molder returned the favour and dared Gannon to serve for the championship.
The Irishman was more than up to the challenge as he rattled through the game with a clean forehand winner and forced error before his 18th ace of the day brought match point.
The final play saw Molder stranded at the net as a perfectly judged lob from Gannon sailed over his head before dropping short of the baseline.
After two hours and 45 minutes, Gannon had secured his first ITF singles title and joined a storied list of countrymen as a DLR Irish Open champion.
Earlier on Sunday, classy top seed Vendula Valdmannova had too much for Amelia Rajecki in the women’s final as she took it 6-1 7-6.
Unfortunately for Rajecki, who had beaten three consecutive seeds to make the showpiece, she started the match out of sorts and was heavily punished.
Struggling to find her first serve while producing errors off the ground, the Nottingham woman was picked off by the 18-year-old (below) who charged through the first set 6-1.
Thankfully for spectators, Rajecki did find a higher level in the second set but the Czech teenager is a formidable talent. Ranked just inside the top 200, Veldmannova glides around the court and her backhand is a fabulous weapon.
Despite her brilliance, the second proved bittier than the first as Valdmannova’s level dropped.
The Czech was broken immediately and Rakecki maintained this advantage, somewhat unconvincingly, until the opportunity to serve for the set was presented at *5-3.
Sadly for the Brit (above), errors resurfaced and the Czech was well placed to switch the momentum back in her direction.
The 18-year-old brought the set to a tie-break and raced to a 5-2 lead before finally closing it out 7-4 for her third ITF title of the season.
Pictures by Sport Narrative and Crosscourt View
