Keenly awaiting my resurgence to international tennis which will start with the systematic annihilation of GF.
Singles, First Round - Bottom Half The Open got back underway today with a thrilling day of tennis for the crowds, with three blinders being played on the Rod Laver Court. First up was big server Geraint Martyn taking on Serbia's fourth seed Luka Popovic. Popovic's pre-match thoughts on how he would cope with his opponent's game turned out to be true, taking the first two sets with ease. In the third however, Martyn showed a new part to his game, aside from the massive serves he'd developed quite a nice forehand in the match, although his attempts to cut down on errors were not paying off enormously, it was enough to get him into the next two sets. However Popovic (who actually didn't serve a double fault in the match for the first time), like another certain Serbian, came into the fifth far fitter than his opponent and ended a thrilling match in victory. After those two had played out their match, it was the turn of Bruce Force to take to the court. He exchanged sets with Ritwick Chowdhuri, but looked a little shaky in the process. The usual relentless returning we see from the Brit looked a bit dogged in the Australian sun, as he then went a set down to the intense displeasure of the crowd. Chowdhuri, who is more used to the terrible heat here, had the opportunity to kill the game off in the fourth with two match points. However he choked at that opportunity and was promptly broken by Force twice to take the game into a fifth set. Force was not so lucky this time round, as his opponent took the final set convincingly to record possibly the biggest upset in the short history of TennisSim. After getting booed off the court, Chowdhuri will face Heath Davis, who made it through in straight sets earlier. The final game on the main court was Andrew James' win over Rego Hutchinson, which was actually very hard to pick for anyone watching the game at the time. The first two sets went to tiebreaks, but after that it was clear that serving was the order of the day, neither player being quite proficient enough in the art of returning to gain the upper hand. If the match was decided on serving skill alone, James would have taken this one by far. Unfortunately, he found it a little hard to cope with Hutchinson's 80mph gentle serves, keeping him in the game somehow. Anyhow, James came through in five, expecting to play second seed Gareth Weaver in the next round. Surprisingly he did not make it through though, being beaten by Ivan Ryabovol in four sets. The other seed in this side of the draw, Samuel Yates, failed to make it through either, also losing in four sets. Results Luka Popovic def Geraint Martyn 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 5-7, 6-3 Ginger Furball def Ether Starris 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 Bruce Force def by Ritwik Chowdhuri 7-5, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 2-6 Heath Davis def Haych Bots 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 Gareth Weaver def by Ivan Ryabovol 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 5-7 Rego Hutchinson def by Andrew James 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-3, 4-6 Samuel Yates def by Jonny Ridd 7-6 (8-6), 5-7, 4-6, 4-6 Chris Raftery def Jordan Logan 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
Singles: Second Round Draw Wes Welker (1) v Matt James Reagan Wheelson (8) v Chris Warrington ---------- Rob Cribb v Brett Hall Os du Toit v Jono Chewie ---------- Luka Popovic (4) v Ginger Furball Ritwik Chowdhuri v Heath Davis ---------- Ivan Ryabovol v Andrew James Jonny Ridd v Chris Raftery
Doubles Qualifiers 1. C. Dyer & A. James def by S. Morgan & O. Wood 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 6-3, 5-7, 6-8 2. G. Martyn & B. Quilty def B. Read & L. Popovic 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-4 3. S. Masters & J. Rhodes def by W. Welker & G. Weaver 4-6, 2-6, 2-6 4. M. Burridge & H. Daman def C. Raftery & M. James 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) 5. J. Ridd & H. Bots def R. Chowdhuri & A. Dforum 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 6. R. Cribb & M. Deane def by G. Furball & B. Hall 6-7 (1-7), 6-4, 5-7, 6-0, 5-7
Doubles Draw H. Davis & T. Lee (1) v S. Morgan & O. Wood J. Chewie & R. Hutchinson v C. Warrington & B. Force ---------- S. Vimes & I. Ryabovol (3) v W. Welker & G. Weaver J. Howe & A. O'Driscoll v J. Ridd & H. Bots ---------- L. Himann & J.Ritchie (2) v G. Martyn & B. Quilty E. Starris & A. O'Neill v G. Furball & B. Hall ---------- C. Downes & R. Wheelson (4) v M. Burridge & H. Daman J. Logan & O. du Toit v S. Yates & B. Burger
Started well and ran out of steam... looks like I'll get the chance for revenge in the doubles... or a chance to double my pain!
