Saville's title defence off to strong start
Keen to dodge the drizzling intermittent rain, defending Junior Champion Luke Saville has lead a trio of Australians through to the second round of the Boys’ Singles, with a straight-forward 6-1, 6-4 triumph over Frenchman Laurent Lokoli.
The top-seeded Saville, also the reigning Junior Australian Open Champion, hit just eight unforced errors to his opponent’s 28 in the 67-minute affair on Court 5.
His countrymen Jordan Thompson and Nick Kyrgios both scored easy 6-2, 6-2 victories, over Brit Jonny O’Meara and Greece’s Markos Kalovelonis, respectively.
A pair of Belgians also flew their country’s flag – second seed and Junior French Open Champion Kimmer Coppejans handing Spaniard Eduard Esteve Lobato a 6-4, 6-3 defeat and 13th seed Julien Cagnina ending British hope Tommy Bennett’s campaign in three sets.
One of the most intriguing first-round match-ups featured Italian third seed Gianluigi Quinzi against Hassan Ndayishimiye, a player from the tiny African nation of Burundi.
Despite hitting 20 winners to his opponent’s 16, Ndayishimiye was unable to make the most of his opportunities, falling 6-1, 6-3.
Serbian sixth seed Nikola Milojevic ground out a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 win over Brazilian Gabiel Friedrich.
The only upsets of the day were Australian ninth seed Andrew Harris falling to Frenchman Enzo Couacaud, and American 14th seed Noah Rubin bowing to German Maximilian Marterer.
The day finished zero from three for the Brits when Spaniard Pol Toldeo Bague took out Peter Ashley in straight sets.
