Young Aussie Duckworth gets the job done

Updated January 17, 2012 19:51:50

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

View the original article here

Aussie Duckworth bows to Simon

Updated January 04, 2012 19:21:39

Bernard Tomic is Australia's only men's hope remaining at the Brisbane International after wildcard James Duckworth went down in straight sets.

Duckworth was outclassed by Frenchmen Gilles Simon 6-3, 7-5 in 89 minutes but, in the process, impressed with his tenacity to take the match up to the world number 12.

Simon started in ominous fashion with two thundering aces which unsettled the 19-year-old Sydneysider who was quickly down 0-3 in the opening set.

Yet Duckworth, who was playing only his second ATP tournament, did not crumple.

Even after dropping his opening serve in the second set, he broke back soon after and started to dictate terms, winning the ninth game on serve to love.

A stroke of luck presented Simon with a break point in the 11th game when a backhand pass clipped the net and dropped over to Duckworth's frustration.

The Frenchman pounced to quickly close out the match.

It was a valuable education for Duckworth, who was ranked number 275 coming into the event and will climb about 20 places following his exit.

Simon meets either German Philipp Petzschner or Colombian Santiago Giraldo in a quarter-final.

Tomic will be fighting for a quarter-final berth when he takes on Japan's Ito Tatsuma in the opening night session match.

Sixth-seeded Czech Radek Stepanek also made it through to the quarters with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 win over Finland's Jarkko Nieminen.

Inaugural tournament champion Stepanek, who has a 14-2 win-loss record in four visits to Brisbane, will meet third seed Alexandr Dolgopolov in the quarter-finals.

The Ukrainian produced a nail-biting comeback win over Russian Igor Andreev.

Dolgopolov saved match points in the second set before prevailing 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (11-9), 6-2 in two hours and 38 minutes.

Tour veteran Tommy Haas withdrew from his second-round clash because of injury but was hopeful he will be fit to play the Australian Open.

Haas, 33, was due to play Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin but notified tournament officials on Wednesday morning that he was unfit because of a niggling right calf injury.

AAP

Tags: sport, tennis, australia, qld, brisbane-4000

First posted January 04, 2012 13:42:51

View the original article here

Dellacqua, Duckworth handed Open wildcards

Updated December 14, 2011 11:10:30

Casey Dellacqua has been rewarded for some excellent form with a wildcard into next month's Australian Open.

Dellacqua, who reached a career-high ranking of 39 in 2008 before being struck down by serious shoulder and foot injuries, won 30 successive matches and six tournaments recently on the Pro Tour in regional Australia.

She lost her opening match in last week's Open wildcard play-off to rising teenage star Ashleigh Barty.

But Tennis Australia (TA) officials felt she had done enough in recent months to get direct entry into the main draw for the first grand slam event of the year, along with compatriot James Duckworth.

"After missing most of 2010 with a foot injury I have spent this year building on my confidence and match practice," said Dellacqua, who enjoyed her best-ever run at a grand slam at the 2008 Australian Open when she advanced to the last 16.

"I now finally feel like I am playing some good tennis and with six Pro Tour event wins under my belt I have the confidence I needed going into the summer.

"I'm really happy with where I am at.

"I'm hitting the ball well, serving great and doing all the things I should be doing.

"I feel good and I am looking forward to some tough competition in January."

The 26-year-old has also been handed wildcards for the Open lead-up events in Brisbane and Hobart.

"It's nice to know my summer is set and hopefully I will get a few more wins and gain even more confidence coming into the Australian Open," said Dellacqua, who is now ranked 133 in the world.

"My goal is to get back into the top 100 next year and then once I'm back inside there, I will reassess and this will just help me speed up that process."

Duckworth, 19, earned his wildcard three days after being beaten in the final of the play-off mini-tournament at Melbourne Park by Marinko Matosevic.

"It's something I've been working towards for a number of years now, and it's really a dream come true to play the Australian Open with my friends and family there," said Duckworth, who has improved his world ranking by 400 places to No.260.

TA will hand out more Open wildcards in the coming weeks.

AAP

Tags: tennis, sport, australia

First posted December 14, 2011 11:10:30

View the original article here