The opening day of the Australian Open had a fresh and youthful taste to it as some promising youngsters delivered on the big stage – not necessarily winning their matches but showing there’s hope for the future of the sport.
Junior world No1 Belinda Bencic, of Switzerland, enjoyed a successful debut in a Grand Slam women’s draw by taking out 43-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm in three sets.
Bencic has won junior titles at Roland Garros and Wimbledon last year and at 16, has already reached the No187 spot in the WTA rankings and her win yesterday will move her into the top-50 when the new rankings come out after Melbourne.
There’s been a lot of hype surrounding Bencic, who is dubbed the “new Martina Hingis”, and it’s great to see her handle her first Grand Slam match the way she did, winning a tough three-setter against a veteran player who remains competitive and only seven months ago was in the third round at Wimbledon.
A bigger test awaits Bencic in the form of two-time finalist Li Na. It would be good to see her put up a fight.
Meanwhile, 19-year-old Jordan Thompson is also an exciting prospect even though he squandered a two sets to love lead against the No20 seed and last year’s Wimbledon semi-finalist, Jerzy Janowicz.
Thompson showed lots of variety during the five-set encounter. He’s fast, has good hands, and I hope he doesn’t become one of those Australians who only perform well while playing at home.
Spain’s 22-year-old Pablo Carreno Busta suffered some heart-ache, falling in five sets against Julien Benneteau but he remains one to watch this season.
Croatia’s Ana Konjuh, the youngest player in the draw, who won both junior singles and doubles titles in Melbourne last year, surrendered easily to Li Na but the 16-year-old is the one who took out world No12 Roberta Vinci a couple of weeks ago in Auckland and is also one to look out for.
Fallen seeds
The men’s draw only lost No12 seed Tommy Haas, who retired with a shoulder problem but it was mayhem in the women’s side as former Wimbledon champion and No6 seed, Petra Kvitova crashed out to world No88 Luksika Kumkhum, along with No7 Sara Errani, No12 Vinci and No23 Elena Vesnina.
Things to look forward to:
‘Fedberg’ debut
The Roger Federer-Stefan Edberg partnership will make their official debut today and regardless of the outcome, it will be exciting to see the Swede sitting courtside for Federer’s match.
Temporary return of Rafter
The former two-time US Open champion will be playing doubles with Lleyton Hewitt, 13 years after his retirement. Throw in a match of those two against partners Gael Monfils and Dustin Brown and we’ll make sure we’re in the front row at Rod Laver Arena.
Lisicki’s stint with Hingis
A random partnership that’s meant to only last for these two weeks but Sabine Lisicki working with Martina Hingis has certainly piqued our interest. Hiring a coach with a contrasting style could really work.
