McHugh excited for grass season

Aidan McHugh is excited by the prospect of a strong grass court season after a draining day at the LTA's Rothesay Open Nottingham. The Glasgow star, who is on the LTA's Pro Scholarship Programme Ð the highest level of support for players aged 16-24 Ð slipped to a 6-4 6-4 defeat against Romanian Marius Copil to dash his hopes of reaching the main draw. Ad/> But McHugh insists he's loving life on the grass and is hoping to rapidly climb the rankings ahead of a jam-packed summer of action.

Roland-GarrosNadal reveals congratulations message from Federer after French Open40 MINUTES AGO The 21-year-old, who beat fellow Brit Julian Cash earlier in the day, said: «I'm obviously aware of the rankings, and it would be silly not to acknowledge it, but I'm just trying to focus on what I'm doing every day. »I'm trying to compete as hard as I can — the grass can be a little bit hit and miss, but I just need to keep competing my best. «I thought I competed well Ð I by no means played my best but I thought I competed really well and it could have gone either way.

»[Playing twice in a day] is like going back to the roots, really — I used to do it all the time when I was younger." McHugh beat Cash 3-6 7-6(6) 6-0 early on Monday to secure his spot in the second round of qualifying in Nottingham. But a clash against Copil Ð ranked just over 50 places above him Ð proved a step too far as he fell to a straight sets defeat. McHugh wants to take the positives from his opening round triumph and build on the experience heading into the rest of the summer.