Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.
WHATEVER befalls Luke Saville at Wimbledon tonight, the South Australian can be sure of at least one thing — he finally belongs at the highest level.
While the compact baseliner is the first to concede that one grand slam victory hardly makes a career, especially with Bulgarian 13th seed Grigor Dimitrov lurking in the second round, a precious milestone has been reached.
In Saville's orb, the business of qualifying and winning a main draw round at the All England Club is not such much a graduation as career-turning.
"There's no doubt I haven't kicked on as much as a lot of people would have hoped, including myself," the junior Wimbledon and Australian Open winner said.
"But not everyone can do a Bernard Tomic or a Nick Kyrgios and burst on the scene and become top 150 in the first six months out of juniors, it's just not possible.
CLICK HERE: FULL MEN'S DRAW
CLICK HERE: FULL WOMEN'S DRAW
"A few things haven't gone my way and a few things, I completely put the blame on myself.
"It's been a bit of a roller-coaster but now I feel that I'm reaping the rewards, to qualify and win a round is unbelievable.
"Qualifying and winning a round here has really turned my year around — and probably my career almost as well.
Luke Saville celebrates a point during his first-round match against Austrian Dominic Thiem. Picture: Getty Images Source: Getty Images
"So it's very, very exciting and I'm very happy."
Saville marched into the second round with a stubborn 7-5 6-4 3-6 6-4 win over Austrian Dominic Thiem, a fellow 20-year-old who is the youngest player in the top 100.
Thiem's ranking is founded on a string of stunning results, none better than Madrid Open victory over Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka last month.
He also gave eventual champion Rafael Nadal a huge French Open fright.
Ranked 236th in the world, Saville was monitored closely on Monday by his fellow South Australian Roger Rasheed, who was scouting the match for Dimitrov.
WIMBLEDON: MATOSEVIC THUNDERS INTO SECOND ROUND
WIMBLEDON: FEELS LIKE AUSTRALIA DAY
WIMBLEDON: TOMIC SAILS INTO SECOND ROUND
Rasheed was impressed and will doubtlessly provide his client with a comprehensive debrief as protection against another early Wimbledon exit.
Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.
For Saville, tonight's opportunity is a reward and opportunity wrapped around the challenge of upending Dimitrov, widely seen as a grand slam champion in waiting.
Win or lose, the Australian wants the match to stand as a watershed.
"I know it's going to be an extremely tough match," he said.
"Everyone knows that, but I'm very excited, very confident in my game at the moment.
"He's an unbelievable player, I'm going out there to do my absolute best.
"I know I'm up against it against Grigor, but I'll fight it out."
Regardless of how Saville's David and Goliath assignment pans out, he is guaranteed a significant rankings rise to about No 180 and a minimum prizemoney cheque of about $82,000 that will almost double his career earnings.
Not a bad week's work for a young man who has waited a seeming eternity to make his mark.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Saville realises that he belongs
Dengan url
http://sportlivestyle.blogspot.com/2014/06/saville-realises-that-he-belongs.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Saville realises that he belongs
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Saville realises that he belongs
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar