Marathon man Szabo wins opening day epic

You have to hand it to Australian qualifier Jordan Szabo, who certainly earned his place in the second round of the Australian Open boys’ tournament with a stomach-churning 76 16 1311 win over Ronak Manuja of India which got the tournament off to a dramatic start.

“I just kept going," said Szabo afterwards. “I had a match point at 9-8 on his serve and then another three or four at 10-11 and then finally took one to go 13-11. I was definitely starting to get tired at the end. I felt pretty good but I was definitely starting to feel like I needed food and stuff. It felt like we’d been going for well over three hours and then I found out afterwards it was three and a half hours. It’s quite a long time, especially when one of the sets was 6-1. It’s the longest match I’ve ever played."

Szabo admitted that beating Manuja had been the toughest mental and physical test of his junior career but said that coming through against the gutsy Indian was a huge confidence boost for him. “I’ve never played a match where it was advantage before and I think it worked in my favour because I would rather have done that than played a tiebreaker," said Szabo, who plays Japan’s Shuichi Sekiguchi in the second round. “I had to play qualifying last week in Nottinghill and I had to play two matches, which meant I played five sets in one day. So I knew that I could do it because the match today was similar to playing five sets.

“My concentration wavered a bit but I just really wanted to take care of my serve because I knew that if I lost serve then I could break him to get back on serve. It was hard when I missed all those match-points but he got all his serves in and I couldn’t be aggressive on them. I was probably a bit tight and tentative as well but then it was such a close match that I probably deserved to be a bit tight. I just know that I need to keep playing my game and be aggressive in those situations and I’m just happy that I got another opportunity to play out there again."

The match drew quite a crowd and made for compelling viewing, not least for those who had come to support Melburnian Szabo and cheer him on. “This is my home town and there were lots of my friends and family and there was a big crowd because it was so tight and because I’m Australian," he said. “It was awesome. I just want to get out there again and play. I’m sure the experience will help me when I go out and play Futures later in the year because now I’ve won tough matches at a grand slam and I guess that’s the pinnacle for a junior player."

In other boys’ matches on day one of the first ITF junior grand slam of the season,
top seed Yuki Bhambri of India had a struggle of his own before beating German Sanchez-Delfin of Mexico 64 16 86. Spain’s Carlos Boluda-Purkiss eased into round two with a 62 61 win over Zimbabwean Mbonisi Ndimande and second seed Julen Uriguen of Guatemala also progressed with little fuss, thanks to a 75 64 win over Toni Androic of Croatia.

In the girls’ competition, Great Britain’s Heather Watson was in imperious form in beating Australian Harriet Sheahan 62 61, while top seed Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Thailand and second seed Ana Bogdan of Romania also both progressed. “I was really excited before the match because I just had so much energy and then we walked on the court and the ballboys were great, the atmosphere was great and I was on such a good court. I played really well and I’m really proud of that first round," said Watson. “This is my third junior grand slam – Wimbledon was my first – and it’s such a great experience because you’re mixing with the pros and it just seems so much better than any other tournament. You feel like you are actually in the adult Australian Open not just the juniors. I watch all the grand slams on TV, I watched the players and the way the fans crowd around and now I just want everyone to know who I am."

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