By LIAM TWOMEY
SOME of the biggest tennis names in the world were no match for Williamstown local Andrew Whittington at last week’s Australian Open.
The 20-year-old showed why he belongs on the big stage with a blistering run through the men’s doubles with his partner Alex Bolt.
The young guns made it all the way to the quarterfinals after receiving a wildcard into the main draw.
Whittington and Bolt enjoyed an early dose of luck after their first round opponents, Julian Knowle and Vasek Pospisil were forced to retire just three games into their match.
The pair then went on to defeat number three seeds Fernando Verdasco and David Marrero 7-6 6-3 and another Spanish duo in Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Pablo Carreno Busta 6-7 7-6 7-5.
The dream run was eventually halted by number eight seeds and two of the tour’s leading doubles players, Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic 6-2 7-6.
Whittington’s coach John Trickey was rapt with his star pupil’s efforts.
“As a whole, they did unbelievably well,” Trickey said.
“It should give them a lot of confidence that, particularly in doubles, they are never out of place against whoever they play.
“They have beaten a couple of really world class teams.”
The quarter-final showing continues what has been a brilliant run for Whittington, whose singles ranking jumped from 787 in the world at the start of 2013 to a career high 368 by the end of the season. Late last year, he also won two Futures Tournaments in Australia and Cambodia.
“He played quite well in the singles (at the Australian Open) as well,” Trickey said.
“He got a wildcard into the qualifying and he played Thiemo De Bakker who is a Dutch player and has been ranked as high as 40 in the world.
“He (Whittington) had a set point in the first set and lost 7-6 6-4, so he didn’t look out of place at that level either.”
Whittington will now turn his attention to Australian Challenger events in Burnie and West Lakes in the coming weeks as he looks to continue his impressive start to 2014.
However, before jetting off he also dropped into the Bayside P-12 College tennis program where he regularly trains and helps coach some of the best young talent in the state.
Speaking last year, Bayside coach Kate Sheahan was glowing in her praise of Whittington.
“One of the biggest advantages of having Andrew there is the professionalism he brings,” she said.
“His attention to detail and his willingness to compete, even in a training session, it just sets the standard for our kids.
“He isn’t happy if he makes an error, and that is why he is doing so well. He is looking for perfection all the time. It is great for him to be mentoring our young athletes.”
Trickey is also confident the wins will keep coming for Whittington.
“In the last 12 months, his singles ranking has gone up about 350 or 400 spots. Now his doubles ranking will climb a couple of hundred spots,” he said.
“I would love to see him inside the top 200 in singles by the end of the year.”
