Van Der Zwalmen becomes second woman to compete in Open main draw

Pridmore and Taylor-Matthews untroubled in progress through to Australian Open Quarter Final

All eight seeds have safely progressed to the quarter finals of the Australian Open, following the conclusion of first round matches at the Hobart Real Tennis Club. It was a historic day marking the opening of the festivities for the club’s 150th anniversary with a reception at Government house in the evening, meaning only three matches were scheduled for the day.

Lea Van Der Zwalmen became as the second woman to compete in the main draw of an Open in her match against Chris Chapman. However, she came up against a former World Number 3 in fine form, who was playing into the heavy cut available on the Hobart court. Chapman found the perfect length with his railroad, sliding in several nicks over the course of the match. When Van Der Zwalmen did find a useful volley, she attempted to play for length as opposed to cut, which made the ball sit up easily for a player like Chapman who plays the ball very late. Van Der Zwalmen’s play improved over the course of the match, getting better width on her shots as Chapman chased balls down into the corners. Her best set was the third, playing more aggressivley as Chapman struggled to close out. He double-faulted on match point in the 5-2 game, with Van Der Zwalmen notching up the next two games before Chapman could finish off the match.

Oliver Pridmore cruised through his match against Tony Blom, booking his place in an Australian Open quarter final for the first time. Blom was serving fast left-handed railroads and pounding piques, which fed into Pridmore’s aggressive strokeplay. Both players were looking to force or drive the return of serve, resulting in the bulk of chases being laid longer than last gallery. There was little doubt about the result after the first few games, as Pridmore dominated the points from both ends of the court. By the end of the match, he was looking for the winning gallery at every opportunity, though he would be outnumbered in that count by Blom on the end-of-match scorecard. Nevertheless, both players thrilled the crowd with their target hitting, including giving a few of the older members a shock from dedans hitting the large perspex screen on the right side of the opening.

Ben Taylor-Matthews began his match against Will Flynn by peppering main walls into the dedans. Flynn stuggled to read the spin from the wall, with several balls coming within inches of striking the young amateur. Flynn attempted a hard hitting game of his own but struggled to find his radar hitting plenty into the net or high on the back wall. It was a departure from his recent match tactics, where he had deliberately slowed the pace of play down and played to the corners. Taylor-Matthews, meanwhile, was dominant at the service end, winning 5 in 6 points from the serice end through the first set. Taylor-Matthews won the set with a high-jumping volley.

Taylor-Matthews was beligerent through the second set, with a flawless display of power hitting even if he was consigned to the hazard end. Flynn made increasingly regular unforced errors throughout, picking up only six points in the set. The final set was marginally better for him, but by that point he had dropped is head and trod a forelorn figure.

Play continues on Wednesday with the commencement of the doubles competitions.

Match results:

• Chris Chapman def Lea Van Der Zwalmen 6/1 6/2 6/4

• Oliver Pridmore def Tony Blom 6/0 6/1 6/1

• Will Flynn lost to Ben Taylor-Matthews 2/6 0/6 0/6

Order of play for Wednesday (all times AEDT):

• 10am: Nick Stenning & Darcy Webster-Jones vs Lewis William & John Woods-Casey (3)

• followed by: Camden Riviere & Chris Chapman (1) vs Sam Legg & Baudouin Huynh-Lenhardt

• followed by: Tony Blom & Jackson Pastoor vs Rob Fahey & Ben Taylor-Matthews (2)

• Not before 5pm: Kieran Booth & Olvier Pridmore (4) vs Claire Fahey & Will Flynn