2019 AO Play-off: Alex Bolt and James Duckworth make winning start
The 2019 Australian Open Play-off has kicked off at Melbourne Park, with 16 Australian players ranked outside the top-100 in the chase for the title and the place in the main draw of the upcoming first Grand Slam of the season. Alex de Minaur claimed the title a year ago and he never looked back, finishing 2018 just outside the Top 30 and setting the path for his compatriots to follow. Marc Polmans, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Alexei Popyrin are not in the draw and the field is led by Alex Bolt and John-Patrick Smith, the remaining Aussie players in the top-200 on today's ATP ranking list. Alex Bolt defeated Aleksandar Vukic 6-3 6-4 7-6 and he will now face the 5th seed Akira Santillan who dismissed Jacob Grills 6-1 7-5 6-4.
Dayne Kelly took down the 4th seed Max Purcell 4-6 6-1 6-4 6-3, overcoming a slow start and dominating in the rest of the match to reach the quarters where he will take upon a former Australian Open junior champion Luke Saville who toppled another seed Bradley Mousley 6-3 6-4 6-4. The reigning Australian U18 champion Rinky Hijikata has been on fire at the Melbourne Park in the last two weeks, earning a wild card for this event to play his first ever best-of-five match and beating the 8th seed Andrew Harris 6-7(6) 6-2 7-5 6-7(8) 6-3 after four and half hours to secure the place in the last eight!
The 17-year-old lost both tie breaks but he managed to overpower the more experienced rival and stay alive, leaving the fourth set behind him and playing well in the decider to prevail in what was by far the longest match he ever played. Things will not get any easier for the junior world number 16, setting the quarter-final meeting with the 2015 champion of this event and the 3rd seed James Duckworth who beat Blake Ellis 5-7 6-4 7-5 6-2, trailing 5-2 in the third set before rattling off seven straight games to gain the momentum. In the bottom part of the draw, the 6th seed Maverick Banes ousted Christopher O'Connell 6-4 7-6 6-0 and he will now face the 2nd seed John-Patrick Smith who scored a 6-2 7-5 5-7 6-3 triumph over Jeremy Beale.
First round results:
[1]Alex Bolt vs [WC]Aleksandar Vukic 6-3 6-4 7-6(5) [5]Akira Santillan vs Jacob Grills 6-1 7-5 6-4 Dayne Kelly vs [4]Max Purcell 4-6 6-1 6-4 6-3 [WC]Luke Saville vs [7]Bradley Mousley 6-3 6-4 6-4 [WC]Rinky Hijikata vs [8]Andrew Harris 6-7(6) 6-2 7-5 6-7(8) 6-3 [3]James Duckworth vs Blake Ellis 5-7 6-4 7-5 6-2 [6]Maverick Banes vs [WC]Christopher O'Connell 6-4 7-6(3) 6-0 [2]John-Patrick Smith vs Jeremy Beale 6-2 7-5 5-7 6-3
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2QlzpAt
No comments