 Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 31 May 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 31 May 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 31 May 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 31 May 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 31 May 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 31 May 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 31 May 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 31 May 2009 |
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| 31 May 2009 - Paris, France - Simon Cambers | |
| Tomic off to a successful start at Roland Garros |
The boy who would be a man was back being a boy at the French Open yesterday.
Australian 16-year-old Bernard Tomic, tipped as a future world No 1 in the men’s game, came through his first-round match in the boys' singles at Roland Garros yesterday.
Seeded No 2 this year, Tomic beat Andrei Vasileyski of Belarus 6-4, 6-2 to set up a clash with American Alexander Domijan, a 6-7, 6-1, 6-1 winner over Mick Lescure of France.
For Tomic, the boys’ singles is his second outing of the fortnight here after he was given a wildcard into the men’s event.
That experience did not last too long as he was hammered in straight sets by Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first round.
But after a few days off, he was back to something close to his best against Vasileyski, toying with his opponent at times.
“I’d prepared well for the men’s and didn’t play that well - that was my goal, to play well in the main draw,” the former Australian Open junior champion said. “I got off to a bad start but now I’m here in the juniors and I want to win it.”
Having begun the year ranked 764 on the main tour, Tomic is up to 362 after reaching the second round of the Australian Open and winning a Challenger event in Melbourne in February.
Still 16, Tomic said he feels more like a member of the main tour than a junior.
“It’s different to go from the top and come down,” he said. “There’s a lot more pressure. At my level I should be winning these juniors.
“I have done it at the Australian Open a year ago, I think last year I got to the quarters here, Wimbledon semis, didn’t do too well at the US Open but I think it’s winnable for me, this one.
You know the years are passing you by when you see someone on the court and remember having seen his father play.
That was the situation when Emilio Gomez of Ecuador played his first-round match against Nikala Scholtz of South Africa, a member of the ITF/Grand Slam Development touring team.
Emilio’s father, Andres, won the French Open title in 1990, and the great man was in the stands to watch his 17-year-old son.
Gomez was beaten 6-2, 7-6 by the more experienced Scholtz, but his father was proud of his efforts.
“It’s a great experience for him,” he said. “It’s the first time he’s come to Europe to play. I am happy with the way he played. I think he is going to get stronger.
To watch my son play is a special feeling. I think it’s probably a great feeling for him too – not right now, but I will ask him later.”
The real shock of day one came when top seed Liang-Chi Huang from Chinese Taipei lost to Richard Becker from Germany in a three set fight.
It was not a good day for players from Chinese Taipei, as also No 8 seed Hsieh Cheng Peng was beaten 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 by Russian Mikhail Biryukov.
In the girls’ event, another Australian, Olivia Rogowska, who won a round in the main draw last week, began her title bid with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Hungary’s Susanyi Zsofia, another of the ITF/Grand Slam Development touring team.
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