Owen Casey will not figure in today's ITF's Futures final at Riverview because he was short of fire-power against a 20-year-old Italian of real promise in the semi-final.

Two hours earlier Casey walked had dismissed top seed Rogier Wassen of Holland earlier in the week.

"I couldn't attack his serve," was Casey's comment after losing out to Daniele Bracciali 6-3, 6-4 in a semi-final that lasted just one hour and 15 minutes.

Bracciali's summed up Casey's game: "He needs more power in his shots, otherwise he is a good player."

Bracciali's weight and placement of serve was awesome. He lost just 17 points on his 10 service games. "The match was all about serve," agreed Casey.

The Italian, still a little hoarse from shouting on his compatriots on the television against Chile in the soccer World Cup on Thursday night, gave early indication of the pattern when packing three aces into the first game. He had 13 aces in all and a plethora of service winners.

And the merciless Italian from Florence also made returns that Casey could not quite fathom. "When I returned, it was generally a midcourt ball that set him up for the point." Casey, as always, battled to the last shot: when in danger of being broken for the second time to love in the seventh-game of the second set, his recovery was typical, from 0-40, to save.

Bracciali takes on the number two seed from Austria Julian Knowle in today's final. Like Casey, the unseeded Belgium Denis Van Uffelen also saw his extended run end in the semi-finals in straight sets. "It will be a big fest of serve and volley," forecasts Casey now content to return to the day job coaching budding hopefuls on north and south of his native Dublin.