Andrew Whittington left nothing in reserve during his first Australian Open men’s singles main draw appearance.
It was a whirlwind time for the Williamstown young gun, who went from a relative unknown to a first round winner at his home grand slam.
“Hopefully, it’s a stepping stone in my career,” the 23 year old said.
“It was a great learning experience.”
In the days before the tournament, there were question marks over whether Whittington would take his place in the main draw, after being granted a wildcard.
Whittington used the Kooyong Classic as his primary lead-up event, but had to retire against Russian Mikhail Youzhny after rolling his ankle.
It was a worrying time; Whittington had worked for years to get to this point in his career, serving a long apprenticeship at the Australian Open in the doubles, at one point advancing to the quarter finals.
Facing a race against the clock, Whittington worked hard to be fit and firing for the Open, thanking his support team for getting him in shape for the first round.
And what a main draw debut it was – the Liston Tennis Club product blew away Czech Republic’s more fancied Adam Pavlasek in four sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Whittington later said that he wasn’t overawed to play at the Open having experience at Melbourne Park in the doubles, but he admitted the first set was an undoubted confidence booster.
When Pavlasek took the second set, Whittington knew he had it in him to fight back in the match.
One break in the third set was followed by another as Whittington took control.
While Whittington fronted world media in Melbourne Park’s main interview room, there was an epic battle going on outside with 20th seeded Croatian Ivo Karlovic and leftie Argentine Horacio Zeballos, a match that saw Karlovic win 22-20 in an incredible fifth set.
It was relevant for Whittington as the winner would be his next opponent. Would the unusually long match work in Whittington’s favour? The answer was a definitive no, as Karlovic showed no signs of wear when the players met in the second round.
At age 37, Karlovic knows every trick in the book, and was extremely efficient in beating Whittington 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on court eight.
While Whittington was far from disgraced, his inability to win break points – five went begging – or hold serve early in sets would come back to bite him.
But as for that learning curve, it does not get any better. A win over a top-75 player and a competitive showing against a top-20 player suggests this young man may be a permanent fixture at the Australian Open for years yet.
Meanwhile, Whittington plays in the men’s doubles with teammate Marc Polmans today. They face France’s Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the quarter final.
