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Athletes serve up good results in the tennis

 

Athletes serve up good results in the tennis

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AOC
Athletes serve up good results in the tennis
TENNIS: The Aussie contingent was again tested on day 2 of the tennis, all our young athletes took to the court at Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing.

TENNIS: The Aussie contingent was again tested on day 2 of the tennis, all our young athletes took to the court at Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing.

Naiktha Bains was first up and met Indian, Ojasvinee Singh in her first singles match at the YOG, notching up a comfortable straight sets win.

“It was pretty good, I’m really happy to start off with a win,” said the 16-year-old.

“I thought I played pretty well, the first set I think I was just a game ahead the whole way and then I closed out my serve at 5-4. Then in the second set I went up 4-0, lost her serve to go 4-1, then won the next two.”

As easy as the win was, it wasn’t without a few hiccups.

“I had a couple of match points, put on one of them I kind of rolled my ankle slightly and fell over a bit, but then I managed to close out the 5-1 game,” she said.

Next up for Bains is Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina, an opponent she is certainly wary of.

“She should be a good match. She hits it pretty well, I’ll just have to play well, play my game.”

An added bonus for Bains here at the YOG is her father, Gurnake, who has made the trip to Nanjing to offer support to his daughter.

“Yeah, it’s awesome he’s always here for my matches so that’s really good. I also have Simon and the other guys here for support.”

In other games of the women’s singles draw, Priscilla Hon played her first match against Slovakian, Kristina Schmiedlova but unfortunately went down in straight sets 3-6 2-6.

Hon will still contest the doubles competition with Baines, where they’ll be hoping to keep their medal hopes alive in the quarter-finals

As darkness fell over the Nanjing Tennis Academy, Polmans and Bourchier teamed up in the first round of the Men’s Doubles to take on Brazilian duo Marcelo Zormann Silva and Orlando Moraes Luz.

The two were pushed hard in the first set and came close to taking it out, but fell short losing 4-6.

In the second set, Polmans and Bourchier seemed to find another gear, dominating the Brazilians in all areas.

Bourchier’s enormous serve continually put pressure on their opponents, while fast-footed Polmans kept them on their toes at the net.

The Aussie’s got back-to-back breaks and before long the second set was won 6-1.

In the doubles format, instead of a third and deciding set, a sudden death tie-break is used to find a winner. The two sides went back and forth at the beginning but the Brazilians were too strong, winning the set and pushing Polmans and Bourchier out of the Men’s doubles competition.

On day 3, the Aussie team will be in action once again, with Bourchier starting round two of the Men’s singles. The mixed doubles also begin.

Sam Rawlings
Olympics.com.au
@AUSOlympicTeam

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