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Sam Groth has won the battle of the Aussies and made the third round at Wimbledon for the first time in his career.
GROTH 7 6 7
DUCKWORTH 5 4 6
In a match where both players had chances, Groth would take his, to book a potential 3rd round meeting with Roger Federer.
Games went on serve early, until the 11th of the match, which saw Groth get the first break of the contest.
Duckworth would then get seven break points in the next game but couldn’t take any of them as Groth held on to take the first set.
The chances, and not taking them, would dent the confidence of Duckworth as Groth races to a 4-0 lead in the 2nd set.
Duckworth fought back, and got one of the breaks, but he couldn’t get the final one as Groth won the 2nd set.
The third set, which was close, was a brilliant set of tennis from both players.
Duckworth had chances again but Groth would survive to force the set to a tiebreaker.
Groth would survive a set point in the tiebreaker, and win it, to make the 3rd round of a Grand Slam for the 2nd time in his career.
It was a case of missed chances for Duckworth, who played well throughout.
Groth will now face Fedeerer in what could be a centre court appearance. That match will be on Saturday night.
For the fifth time in a Grand Slam match this year, two Aussies will face each other, with James Duckworth up against Sam Groth in the second round of Wimbledon. Join The Roar for a live scores and a blog of the match from 8:30pm AEST.
This is the third time Sam Groth has faced a fellow Aussie in a Grand Slam event this year.
At the Australian Open, he defeated Thanasi Kokkinakis in five sets in the second round, before losing to Bernard Tomic in straight sets in the third round.
While Groth is good mates with both players, today he faces a completely different challenge when he takes on Duckworth.
Imagine playing a rival who knows everything about you, is good mates with you, has the same coach as you, and shares a house with you.
That’s the challenge for Duckworth and Groth who are living together throughout the Championships and are coached by Ben Mathias.
Mathias, who is a respected tennis coach from Australia, has done wonders for both of these players.
Both are now in the top 100, after hiring him as a coach, and they are getting their best results ever in a Grand Slam environment.
On Tuesday, both won their first ever main draw match at Wimbledon. Groth boomed past Jack Sock with 16 aces and had 15 break point chances.
Duckworth, on the other hand, went two sets to love up against Malek Jaziri and looked home. Unfortunately though, he lost momentum, and the next two sets.
Faced with becoming the first person in Grand Slam history to lose two straight matches from two sets up – he lost at the French Open versus Andrea Arnaboldi in the same way – he would win the final set to book a place in tonight’s match.
This match will all be about power. Both are strong from the baseline, and both have excellent serves.
Duckworth’s might not be as fast as Groth’s but he can get free points from it just like his Victorian mate.
This is the third match between the two with Groth winning the other two clashes.
In 2013, at the Sydney ATP Challenger, Groth won in two tight tiebreakers. Last year, in Shenzhen, Groth won in three sets.
With three tiebreakers, in the last two matches, this will be a close contest. Both know each other’s games well and it will be tough for both players to break down their rival.
Groth’s form on grass is better and with injury concerns to Duckworth – his back – I’m lean towards Groth to win.
It might take four or five sets but the fastest server in the world will likely book a showdown with Federer in the third round.
Prediction: Groth 3-1
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