Presumably Australian teen James Duckworth and Jurgen Zopp were both pretty happy when they had a look at the opening-round draw for the Australian Open.
Duckworth realised he was taking on an Estonian who had been required to tough it out through the qualifying rounds.
And Zopp would surely not have been displeased to have been paired against one of the locals gifted a wildcard by Tennis Australia.
Remarkably both Duckworth and Zopp were making their grand slam debuts.
But it was Sydneysider Duckworth - the grandson of 1955 Australian Open women's singles champion Beryl Penrose - who had the last laugh after completing a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory on Showcourt Three at Melbourne Park.
"I've always dreamt about playing the Australian Open in front of my home fans and my family and friends," Duckworth said.
"It's an unbelievable feeling.
"I was pretty nervous walking out because there were lots of people out there and it was my first grand slam match.
"But I managed to hide my feelings quite well and I'm really happy with the win."
Zopp's pro career to date has yet to scale the heights, but Duckworth still did his homework.
"I thought I was in with a good chance," said Duckworth, who turns 20 on Saturday.
"I'd seen Jurgen play a few times before up in Brisbane.
"I thought he might be a bit tired because he played three three-setters in qualifying where he won 11-9 in the third, 9-7 in the third, and then 6-3 in the third, I think.
"I thought if I went out there and was able to look after my own serve, I'd get chances and I was able to just take them."
Duckworth's next challenge looms as a much tougher one against Serbian number nine seed Janko Tipsarevic, who won a tough four-setter in the opening round against Russian Dmitry Tursunov.
Meanwhile, fellow Australian Marinko Matosevic was competitive before going down 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-3 to to mercurial number 14 seed Gael Monfils from France.
AAP
Tags: tennis, sport, melbourne-3000, vic, australia First posted January 17, 2012 19:51:50
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