 Photographer: Corinne Dubreuil
Date: 23 Jan 2007 |  Photographer: Corinne Dubreuil
Date: 23 Jan 2007 |  Photographer: Corinne Dubreuil
Date: 23 Jan 2007 |  Photographer: Corinne Dubreuil
Date: 23 Jan 2007 |  Photographer: Corinne Dubreuil
Date: 23 Jan 2007 |  Photographer: Corinne Dubreuil
Date: 23 Jan 2007 |  Photographer: Corinne Dubreuil
Date: 23 Jan 2007 |  Photographer: Corinne Dubreuil
Date: 23 Jan 2007 |
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| 23 Jan 2007 - Melbourne, Australia - Eleanor Preston |  Related Audio |
| Botti topples Tomic in Melbourne |
 An Interview with Alize Cornet (MP3 format)
 
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France’s Kevin Botti scored Tuesday’s biggest upset in the Australian Open juniors by knocking out much fancied 14-year-old Australian Bernard Tomic in the second round. Botti, who was instrumental in France’s 2005 Junior Davis Cup by BNP Paribas victory, had far too much experience for Tomic, particularly in the match’s tighter moments.
“I think it could have been easier for me because of all this pressure he is under but I thought he played very well so maybe he is used to all of the pressure,” said Botti, after his 62 46 63 victory over the Queenslander. “There is a lot of expectation and pressure on him but then I was nervous too. I was impressed with the fact that he always smiled and never seemed nervous about the crowd. That’s a very good sign for a young player like that. I am more experienced than him but then maybe sometimes it is better to be young like him. This is a big win for me because I’ve never been to the third round of a grand slam before and every win here is a good win.”
France has a great tradition of success at the Junior Australian Open, which has seen four French boys become champion in the last decade – Julien Jeanpierre, Clement Morel, Gael Monfils and, last year, Alexandre Sidorenko. “It doesn’t give me more confidence to see those French names there but knowing they have won makes me realise that I can do it too,” said Botti, who plays 10th-seeded Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis in the third round.
Botti’s compatriot, second seed Jonathan Eysseric, was also amongst Tuesday’s winners. He beat Australia’s Joel Linder 6-3, 6-4 to set up a third round meeting with Italy’s Daniel-Alejandro Lopez, seeded 13th.
France seems to have a knack for producing talented young girls as well as boys. Alize Cornet is widely regarded as one of the most promising young talents in the girls’ draw and she lived up to that billing on Tuesday by beating adept Russian Ksenia Lykina 62 61. “It was tough because I hadn’t played her before and it took me time to work out her game,” said Cornet, who will play China’s Yi-Miao Zhou next. “I really want to do better at the grand slam tournaments, especially here, and I have been playing a lot of women’s events lately and I am in confidence because of that.
Zhou caused one of the plethora of upsets in the girls’ draw by beating ninth-seeded American Julia Cohen 64 61. Hong Kong’s Ling Zhang was also in giant-killing form, beating second seed Yung-Jan Chan 63 62.
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