 Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 28 Jun 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 28 Jun 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 28 Jun 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 28 Jun 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 28 Jun 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 28 Jun 2009 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 28 Jun 2009 |
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| 27 Jun 2009 - Wimbledon - Simon Cambers | |
| Junior Wimbledon kicks off at SW19 |
Bernard Tomic shrugged off a virus to make an impressive start to his bid for the junior boys’ title on Saturday, beating Britain’s George Morgan 76 62 on another roasting hot day at Wimbledon.
The Australian, a beaten semi-finalist 12 months ago, came through a tough first set before stamping his authority on the match in the second and advancing to the second round.
“I’ve been checked out by the doctors and I am lucky I have two days off now,” No 3 seed Tomic said. “I just don’t have any energy, I can’t focus and I’ve got a little bit of a headache. Thank God I’m not playing tomorrow or the next day. Hopefully I’ll be ok.”
The 16-year-old Tomic, who won the junior title in Australia last year, has been making waves in the professional ranks, reaching the second round of the Australian Open in January.
He narrowly missed out on a place in the main draw at Wimbledon, losing in the final round of qualifying, but that experience has boosted his confidence and he is intent on winning the title.
“I came so close last year, missed my chance,” he said. “It’s big, because one year of waiting after reaching the semi-final, it would be great if I could win and put grand slam No 2 on there. Hopefully I can do it but I’ve got four, five matches to go.
Top seed and French Open junior champion Daniel Berta, from Sweden, made a confident start to his title bid with a 64, 60 win over Belgium’s Yannik Reuter, but No 2 seed Liang-Chi Huang of Taipei suffered a shock defeat, though, as he was beaten 64 75 by British 17-year-old Ashley Hewitt.
Fourth seed Agustin Velotti of Argentina also struggled but battled through to the second round with a 67 64 75 victory over big-hitting South African Nikala Scholtz. Eighth seed Julen Uriguen of Guatemala lost to Italian Federico Gaio.
Andrea Collarini, the No 5 seed, was beaten 62 75 by Carlos Boluda-Purkiss of Spain, but No 9 seed Dominik Schulz saw off Radim Urbanek of the Czech Republic 64 62.
Schulz beat Tomic in the French Open and said that victory over the Australian had increased his standing in the eyes of the other players. “After I beat Tomic, they have respect and I think that’s good for me because I have an advantage over them,” he said. “I think they can win against me but when you show them on the important points that you are there, you have a big advantage.
American Christina McHale (9) and Ukrikke Eikeri (16) of Norway were the only seeds to lose in the first round of the girls’ event on Saturday.
Camila Silva of Chile (10), Silvia Njiric of Croatia (11), Tamaryn Handler of Belgium (13), Chanel Symonds of South Africa (14) and French Open runner-up Daria Gavrilova of Russia (15) all booked their places in the second round.
Defending champion Laura Robson is seeded No 2 this year behind French Open girls’ champion Kristina Mladenovic of France, but should be full of confidence after she pushed former world No 5 Daniela Hantuchova to three sets in the first round of the women’s singles.
The 15-year-old said was taking nothing for granted, however. “There are a couple of girls there who I have lost to recently,” she said. “It’s going to be tough.”
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