Australian teenager Omar Jasika has dished out a bagel on his grand slam debut, defeating Illya Marchenko at Melbourne Park.
Jasika, the US Open junior singles and doubles champion in 2014, trumped Ukrainian Marchenko 6-4 3-6 6-0 6-4 on Monday to show exactly why he was awarded a main-draw wildcard.
The 18-year-old saved three break points during the decisive fourth set, all of which came when Marchenko unsuccessfully tried to level it 4-4.
Jasika then showed experience beyond his years to serve out the set without losing a point.
The highlight of the Victorian's impressive win was a clinical third set, which lasted just 26 minutes.
"My first big really match, it was a pretty good feeling to get through that," said Jasika, who admitted to "struggling to sleep a little bit" in the nights leading up to his Open debut.
"The crowd was on my side today, which was a good feeling. They pushed me through. It was incredible to see the crowd get on my side.
"As soon as I walked onto the court, I knew I was ready. First point, I was like, `Okay, I can do this'. I just believed in myself."
Nick Kyrgios believes in the 18-year-old too, Australia's 2015 Open quarter-finalist a conspicuous observer in Jasika's post-match press conference.
Kyrgios said he gives his little mate a shot of toppling French ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 2008 runner-up, in his next match on Wednesday to make the third round.
"I think he's more than capable of causing an upset," Kyrgios said.
Tsonga defeated 2006 Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-2 in Monday night's final match.
Jasika was ranked No.841 in the world in October 2014 but has since cut that number to 310.
Nonetheless, he wasn't expected to trouble world No.76 Marchenko.
Share
