Tennis unknown John-Patrick Smith has pulled off one of the best wins of his brief career by beating Davis Cup player Chris Guccione in the first round of the Australian Open wildcard tournament.
Six months ago Smith did not have any sort of tennis ranking but six months from now, according to Davis Cup team manager Todd Woodbridge, Smith could be inside the world top 200.
Guccione, the fourth seed, went down to the Queensland US college graduate in straight sets, losing 7-5, 7-6 (7/3).
In the battle of the left-handers, Smith, 22, was able to quickly bring the towering Guccione's big serve under control and seized an early break.
He played steadily while the Victorian was plagued by unforced errors.
"I played well and served well and made sure I made a lot of returns, that was one of my goals, and I made him play a lot of balls," Smith said.
"He missed a few of his first serves early and I was able to get control of his second serve, which was a bit of a surprise."
Smith said he would not work out a schedule for 2012 until the end of this week but he said his ranking already was around number 440.
Woodbridge said Smith was one of the younger players Tennis Australia would be watching closely.
"He was unranked coming out of college but his ranking is moving very quickly and I wouldn't be surprised if in the next six months he wasn't in the top 200," Woodbridge said.
Earlier top seed New South Welshman Greg Jones eased into the second round with a straightforward 6-2, 6-3 victory over Queenslander Gavin Van Peperzeel.
And women's top seed Casey Dellacqua bounced back after her shock loss on the first day to beat Emelyn Starr, the eighth seed from New South Wales, 6-1, 6-1.
Dellacqua was the subject of a major upset in the first of her round-robin matches when she fell to 15-year-old Wimbledon junior champion Ashleigh Barty from Queensland.
Barty continued her march towards the semi-finals when she collected her second straight win, defeating New South Wales hopeful Stephanie Bengson 6-2, 6-4.
AAP
Tags: tennis, sport, melbourne-3000, vic, australia First posted December 07, 2011 17:29:25
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