Delhi lad Yuki wins Australian Open boys title

The Delhi boy,who lost in the semi-finals in Melbourne last year,was at his dominant best from the start and seemed determined to lift the title this time as he broke his German opponent in the fourth game of the opening set to go up 3-1 and then maintained his composure to seal the first set in 31 minutes.

With his nose ahead with a set lead,Yuki didn’t look back and demolished Georgousdas 6-1 in just 26 minutes in the second set to register his first Slam title.

Yuki’s dominance in the match was visible from the fact that he hit 29 winners as compared to his opponent’s 21. He also converted four out of the seven break points and didn’t provide a single window of opportunity to the German to break his serve.

Yuki,partnering Chinese Taipei’s Liang-Chi Huang,also made it to the semi-finals of the boys doubles event but were shocked on Friday by Russian-Japanese pair of Mikhal Biryukov and Yasutaka Uchiyama 3-6 1-6.

Ramesh Krishnan lauds Yuki’s triumph

Former Indian Davis Cup captain and two-time junior Grand Slam title winner Ramesh Krishnan today lauded Yuki Bhambri’s boys’ singles triumph at the Australian Open,saying the teenage sensation has all the attributes of making it even bigger at the senior level.

“Though an Indian youngster winning a Grand Slam Junior title comes after a long gap,I am sure that given the present scenario many more such good results bound to come for Yuki and he will,I am sure,come through the hard grind at higher levels,” said Krishnan,who won the Wimbledon and French Open junior titles in 1979.

Krishnan said the it would have been even more delightful if Yuki had gone on to win the doubles’ title as well. The Indian lost in the doubles’ semis,played just hours after his singles last-four stage win.

“If Yuki had won the doubles title too,it would have been even nicer. But on the whole,it is a superb effort on Yuki’s part and an Indian winning the junior title is always a happy tiding. It is a fantastic achievement,” he said.

He lauded India’s overall performance at the season’s first Grand Slam,where Mahesh Bhupathi has made the finals of both the men’s and mixed doubles events.

“It is heartening to note that many Indians have pitched in at the Australian Open this year and there have been some good results for us. Mahesh is in doubles final and with Sania Mirza made the finals of the mixed doubles,” he said.