Indian boy wins australia open tennis
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Indian youngster Yuki Bhambri turned in a dominating performance to beat Germany’s Alexandros-Ferdinandos Georgoudas 6-3 6-1 and take home the junior boys’ singles championship at Australian Open 2009.
It took only 57 minutes for 16-year-old Bhambri to make his official mark in the tennis world, overpowering his opponent with his trademark forehand and volley tactics.
He joins a long list of former Australian Open junior champions including Andy Roddick, Marcos Baghdatis and Gael Monfils.
The win also means the No.1 seed has made amends for his semifinal exit at Australian Open 2008, where he lost to eventual junior champion Bernard Tomic of Australia.
Georgoudas, affectionately known as ‘Freddie’, had dropped only two sets en route to the final, and after ousting the No.2 seed Julen Uriguen in the semifinals, was expected to give the No.1 a good run.
But from the outset, Bhambri was quick to control play, using his court speed to force Georgoudas into a pace the German was clearly uncomfortable with.
Unable to get his racquet to co-operate, the 17-year-old found Bhambri pressing at every opportunity, and was couldn’t muster a single break point opportunity in the opening set, while his opponent had five.
Georgoudas found it next to impossible to win a point off the No.1 seed’s serve, and was clearly relieved when he was able to hold onto his own.
Unfortunately, the plan to approach the second set with more tenacity didn’t work how the German would have liked.
With an opening service game littered with shots into the net, Georgoudas quickly found himself 2-0 down
He kept his head up and was able to press on Bhambri’s returning service game, discovering that if he kept the Indian to playing from the baseline that he had a good chance of overpowering him with his two-handed backhand.
Bhambri, though, showed tennis smarts well beyond his years, utilising his skill at the net and whipping forehands into every corner to quickly work his way back on top.
The rising star broke Georgoudas again in the sixth game, and other than a double fault in his final service game, he had no problems finishing the championship off.
Speaking after the match, Georgoudas said he enjoyed playing at Melbourne Park and hoped to be back.
“It is a very nice tournament here; well done to Yuki, and I hope to play here in the future,” he said.
Bhambri is the first Indian to pick up a major title at the Australian Open this year, with the country having a couple more opportunities in the men’s doubles final tonight (Mahesh Bhupathi) and the mixed doubles final tomorrow (Bhupathi and Sania Mirza) to add to its Melbourne Park silverware.
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