Tennis: Chris Guccione To Second Round Australian Open
January 20th 2009 14:49
Melbourne's Chris Guccione turned it around after four, barren years at the Australian Open with a first round victory that he is hoping will reignite his career. Guccione joins teenage star Bernard Tomic and Brydan Klein as the only Australians so far into a men's second round that will be without former world No.1 Lleyton Hewitt.
Another Australian, Carsten Ball, is on court now against German Michael Berrer.
On a day when high winds accompanied the blistering heat, British fourth seed Andy Murray completed his fastest grand slam match to also make the second round, as did the Frenchmen Gilles Simon, the sixth seed and 12th seed Gael Monfils.
Guccione, whose only previous victory at his home major came on debut against countryman Alun Jones back in 2004, was largely untroubled in beating Frenchman Nicolas Devilder 6-4 6-2 6-4.
The 23-year-old will now face the talented Simon, a prospect which may make his return to form a short-lived experience.
Despite that intimidating prospect, Guccione focused on the positives of only his fifth victory in 13 grand slam tournaments, during which time he has never advanced beyond the second round.
A major factor in Guccione's triumph on Tuesday was his ability to cope better with the conditions.
"I was trying to serve a high percentage out there, which was tough," said Guccione.
"The only thing that it really affects is your ball toss, it can get blown around a little bit.
"My ball toss isn't that high, it's just a matter of timing the ball up there, which I think I did pretty well today."
Simon took out Spain's Pablo Andujar 6-4 6-1 6-1, a win that comes after a year in which he improved his ranking from 29 to a career-best seven.
It also added to the success of French players in general and came on top of victories on Tuesday to compatriots Monfils and 24th seed Richard Gasquet.
Monfils endured a third set lapse to beat Martin Vassallo Arguello 6-1 6-2 7-5 in their first-round match while Gasquet had a more formidable task against Diego Junqueira before winning 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 6-4.
Hewitt lost, as a player ranked 70th in the world should do at the hands of one seeded 13.
Typically, it wasn't without a substantial fight.
Chile's Fernando Gonzalez took the match 5-7 6-2 6-2 3-6 6-3, with the Australian claiming the result hinged on "a couple of points" in the fifth set.
Hewitt had the chance of an early break at 1-1 and 15-40 on Gonzalez's serve in the final set.
"If I could have got that early break it could have been a little different," Hewitt said.
"There were still only a couple of points in it in the fifth."
AAP
Another Australian, Carsten Ball, is on court now against German Michael Berrer.
On a day when high winds accompanied the blistering heat, British fourth seed Andy Murray completed his fastest grand slam match to also make the second round, as did the Frenchmen Gilles Simon, the sixth seed and 12th seed Gael Monfils.
Guccione, whose only previous victory at his home major came on debut against countryman Alun Jones back in 2004, was largely untroubled in beating Frenchman Nicolas Devilder 6-4 6-2 6-4.
The 23-year-old will now face the talented Simon, a prospect which may make his return to form a short-lived experience.
Despite that intimidating prospect, Guccione focused on the positives of only his fifth victory in 13 grand slam tournaments, during which time he has never advanced beyond the second round.
A major factor in Guccione's triumph on Tuesday was his ability to cope better with the conditions.
"I was trying to serve a high percentage out there, which was tough," said Guccione.
"The only thing that it really affects is your ball toss, it can get blown around a little bit.
"My ball toss isn't that high, it's just a matter of timing the ball up there, which I think I did pretty well today."
Simon took out Spain's Pablo Andujar 6-4 6-1 6-1, a win that comes after a year in which he improved his ranking from 29 to a career-best seven.
It also added to the success of French players in general and came on top of victories on Tuesday to compatriots Monfils and 24th seed Richard Gasquet.
Monfils endured a third set lapse to beat Martin Vassallo Arguello 6-1 6-2 7-5 in their first-round match while Gasquet had a more formidable task against Diego Junqueira before winning 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 6-4.
Hewitt lost, as a player ranked 70th in the world should do at the hands of one seeded 13.
Typically, it wasn't without a substantial fight.
Chile's Fernando Gonzalez took the match 5-7 6-2 6-2 3-6 6-3, with the Australian claiming the result hinged on "a couple of points" in the fifth set.
Hewitt had the chance of an early break at 1-1 and 15-40 on Gonzalez's serve in the final set.
"If I could have got that early break it could have been a little different," Hewitt said.
"There were still only a couple of points in it in the fifth."
AAP
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