ID :
41503
Mon, 01/19/2009 - 16:08
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/41503
The shortlink copeid
Tomic, 16, wins in Aussie Open debut
Boy wonder Bernard Tomic is ready to answer the SOS call from Australian tennis after becoming the youngest male in professional history to win a match at the Australian Open.
In a spectacular grand slam entrance, the Gold Coast teenager sent local fans into a
frenzy with a courageous 7-6 (7-5) 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (8-6) victory over Italy's
world No.73 Potito Starace at Margaret Court Arena on Monday.
At 16 years and 89 days, Tomic is 94 days younger than fellow Australian Todd
Woodbridge was when he beat American John Letts in the opening round at Melbourne
Park in 1988.
Tomic displayed the poise of a seasoned pro as he recovered from service breaks down
in both the third and fourth sets to score a magic win in his first,
best-of-five-sets encounter.
"It's a dream come true to win a first round in my first grand slam. I'm just
thrilled that I could pull off a win today," Tomic said.
"With the crowd behind me, it was an unbelievable experience. If the crowd wasn't
there, I wouldn't have pulled it off in the end."
Starace is no mug, either.
The 27-year-old was ranked 27th in the world just 15 months ago and boasts career
wins over former world No.1s Carlos Moya, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Marat Safin, the
2005 Open champion.
But, when it came to the crunch, the experienced Italian was no match for the
tenacious Tomic, who saved two set points in a tense fourth-set tiebreaker before
rifling his 20th backhand winner down the line to take the match after three hours
and 14 minutes.
Sporting sunglasses and a blue bandana, Tomic looked the goods from the outset,
peeling off successive baseline winners to clinch his opening service game of the
match before breaking Starace for an early 4-2 lead.
Despite dropping serve the very next game, the 2008 Australian Open junior champion
rebounded to snare the first-set tiebreaker with a forehand screamer.
The youngster could have folded after losing the second set in quick time and then
falling behind 4-2 in the third.
Tomic, though, refused to wilt and claimed the third-set tiebreaker with an
unreturnable serve.
The fourth set followed a similar pattern before Tomic eventually prevailed to
advance to a second-round clash on Wednesday with Luxembourg's Gilles Muller, who
needed almost four-and-a-half hours to see off Spanish 27th seed Feliciano Lopez 6-3
7-6 (7-5) 4-6 4-6 16-14.
While anticipating a tough time against the serve-volleying Muller, Tomic said he
was ready to cope with the continuing pressure of being Australia's next great hope.
"I am. I mean, anything can happen right now. I'm in the second round," he said.
"You know, who knows, I could get through.
"But the guy is a great player. He's got to the quarters of the US (Open last year).
There's not much I can do if he's serving bombs.
"So we'll see."
In a spectacular grand slam entrance, the Gold Coast teenager sent local fans into a
frenzy with a courageous 7-6 (7-5) 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (8-6) victory over Italy's
world No.73 Potito Starace at Margaret Court Arena on Monday.
At 16 years and 89 days, Tomic is 94 days younger than fellow Australian Todd
Woodbridge was when he beat American John Letts in the opening round at Melbourne
Park in 1988.
Tomic displayed the poise of a seasoned pro as he recovered from service breaks down
in both the third and fourth sets to score a magic win in his first,
best-of-five-sets encounter.
"It's a dream come true to win a first round in my first grand slam. I'm just
thrilled that I could pull off a win today," Tomic said.
"With the crowd behind me, it was an unbelievable experience. If the crowd wasn't
there, I wouldn't have pulled it off in the end."
Starace is no mug, either.
The 27-year-old was ranked 27th in the world just 15 months ago and boasts career
wins over former world No.1s Carlos Moya, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Marat Safin, the
2005 Open champion.
But, when it came to the crunch, the experienced Italian was no match for the
tenacious Tomic, who saved two set points in a tense fourth-set tiebreaker before
rifling his 20th backhand winner down the line to take the match after three hours
and 14 minutes.
Sporting sunglasses and a blue bandana, Tomic looked the goods from the outset,
peeling off successive baseline winners to clinch his opening service game of the
match before breaking Starace for an early 4-2 lead.
Despite dropping serve the very next game, the 2008 Australian Open junior champion
rebounded to snare the first-set tiebreaker with a forehand screamer.
The youngster could have folded after losing the second set in quick time and then
falling behind 4-2 in the third.
Tomic, though, refused to wilt and claimed the third-set tiebreaker with an
unreturnable serve.
The fourth set followed a similar pattern before Tomic eventually prevailed to
advance to a second-round clash on Wednesday with Luxembourg's Gilles Muller, who
needed almost four-and-a-half hours to see off Spanish 27th seed Feliciano Lopez 6-3
7-6 (7-5) 4-6 4-6 16-14.
While anticipating a tough time against the serve-volleying Muller, Tomic said he
was ready to cope with the continuing pressure of being Australia's next great hope.
"I am. I mean, anything can happen right now. I'm in the second round," he said.
"You know, who knows, I could get through.
"But the guy is a great player. He's got to the quarters of the US (Open last year).
There's not much I can do if he's serving bombs.
"So we'll see."
