AIDAN MCHUGH followed in Kyle Edmund’s footsteps to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final.
Glaswegian McHugh, 17, is the first Brit to reach the last four of a Slam boys’ singles since Edmund at Wimbledon in 2013.
Like senior semi-finalist Edmund, McHugh has been mentored by Andy Murray and recently signed with Murray’s 77 Sports Management firm.
And he also shares the pale-skinned Yorkshireman’s need for plenty of sun cream in the Aussie summer.
McHugh said: “.I’d say Kyle’s worse than me. But I definitely make sure I put sun cream on.
“I got a bit of stick from Andy at Wimbledon after one of my matches and I struggled.
“I always kind of think that because I’m at home, that means you don’t need to do it but in London it can actually get quite hot sometimes so yeah, it was a hot one and I didn’t have any sun cream on and stuff so I got rinsed a little bit for that.
“So I always make sure I’ve cream and stuff on before I play.”
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McHugh has been following Edmund’s progress in the men’s event and said: “I know Kyle just a tiny bit.
“I practised with him just once for a couple of hours.
“He’s quite a quiet guy but I know he works really hard and ticks all the right boxes for his training and things. And the way he carries himself is really good so he’s finally getting some rewards at the high end of slams which is what he wants.
“It’s really good to see him doing well. Obviously it makes me want to do well as well.”
McHugh is coached by Toby Smith, brother of Davis Cup captain and SunSport columnist Leon Smith.
The promising teenager beat Australia’s Rinky Hijikata 6-4 6-2 to set up a semi-final clash tomorrow [FRI] with Chun Hsin Tseng, the No 6 seed from Taiwan whom he beat at a tournament last week.
McHugh, likeable and articulate, seems unfazed by how well he is doing.
But he admitted feeling out of his depth when Murray made him hit with Roger Federer during a charity exhibition event in Glasgow in November.
McHugh, who badly fluffed a couple of backhands in the rallies with Federer, said: “I was hitting with Andy and Jamie before the event.
“It was a couple of hours later and I had got changed. I’m not making excuses but I had casual clothes on and they were tight, I couldn’t play.
“Andy was making a few faces. I was sitting right next to Jamie, so he knew where we were. He just came over, I thought he was joking at first until he got right off the court.
“I was like, ‘right, he’s actually making me do this’, so I went on. I almost got one of the passes but I blame my jacket for it to be honest.
“Roger was really nice afterwards, he was laughing about it. I did tell him that I would get him next time. I will need to try and do wel lquickly if I’m going to get a chance to play him, unless he is still going at 50. “Maybe not have the jacket on next time.”
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