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Big-serving Gilles Muller outgunned Australian rising star Bernard Tomic to end the teenager’s maiden Australian Open campaign at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday night.
Tomic predicted before the match he could find the Luxembourg left-hander’s serve difficult to counter and that proved to be the case, Muller firing down 27 aces in his 3-6 6-1 6-4 6-2 win in front of a capacity crowd at Rod Laver Arena.
But despite the loss, the 16-year-old Queenslander, who two days earlier became the youngest ever Australian Open main draw winner, again gave signs of his enormous potential.
There had been fears expressed before the match about whether Tomic had the emotional maturity to handle the spotlight of playing the feature night match on Melbourne Park’s main court.
But the youngster put paid to those concerns in the opening set.
He saved six break points in the opening game of the match, then capitalised on his first chance to break Muller’s serve in the fourth game.
His poise again came to the fore as he served for the set, winning the game to love, capped by a ripping crosscourt forehand winner on set point.
But, as in his first round win against Italy’s Potito Starace, his concentration lapsed in the second set, allowing Muller to race away with it in just 23 minutes.
While he was able to recover against Starace, Muller – who reached the US Open quarter-finals last year and boasts career grand slam wins against Andy Roddick and Rafael Nadal – was less forgiving.
The 25-year-old needed just one break in the the third set, which he clinched with his 21st ace, then tore through the latter stages of the fourth, sealing the match with a pair of aces.
Muller plays Argentinian eighth seed Juan Martin Del Potro in the third round, after he beat Germany’s Florian Mayer 6-1 7-5 6-2 on Wednesday.
Muller said he had found the experience of playing against an Australian on his home court in such an important match daunting and took some time to settle into the match.
While thrilled with his win, he also praised the composure of his young opponent.
“I was very impressed with the way he handled himself out there on the court,” Muller said.
“He wasn’t any time getting angry, not shouting, not doing anything except playing his game and I was very impressed by that.”
Tomic said he could not have asked for a better experience in his first grand slam tournament and could not have expected any more from himself than he produced on the night.
But he said once Muller found his range with his serve he simply did not have the game to compete.
He said the late start to the match – which began at just before 10.30pm (AEDT) – did not help him, as he was affected by tiredness.
“He’s played unbelievable, I was lucky to get that first set, he didn’t start serving well, but after that it was a bit hard,” Tomic said.
“His serve was going in and once that started happening it was too hard for me.
“But I played well, I was happy with this tournament and I couldn’t be happier, to get through that first round gave me a lot of confidence.”
How the Australians fared at the Australian Open on Wednesday:
Men’s singles – round two
Brydan Klein (Aus) lost to 15-Stanislas Wawrinka (Sui) 6-3 6-4 6-4
Bernard Tomic (Aus) lost to Gilles Muller (Lux) 3-6 6-1 6-4 6-2Women’s singles – round two
Jelena Dokic (Aus) bt 17-Anna Chakvetadze (Rus) 6-4 6-7(4-7) 6-3Men’s doubles – round one
Carsten Ball (Aus)/Chris Guccione (Aus) bt Scott Lipsky (USA)/David Martin (USA) 7-6(7-5) 7-6(7-4)
Colin Ebelthite (Aus)/Sam Groth (Aus) lost to 6-Mariusz Fyrstenberg (Pol)/Marcin Matkowski (Pol) 5-7 7-6(7-4) 6-4
Stephen Huss (Aus)/Ross Hutchins (GBR) bt Agustin Calleri (Arg)/Eduardo Schwank (Arg) 7-5 7-5
Greg Jones (Aus)/Peter Luczak (Aus) lost to 9-Max Mirnyi (Blr)/Andy Ram (Isr) 6-7(5-7) 6-3 7-6(10-8)
Dane Propoggia (Aus)/Matt Reid (Aus) lost to Igor Kunitsyn (Rus)/Dmitry Tursunov (Rus) 6-4 6-4Women’s doubles – round one
Alison Bai (Aus)/Emelyn Starr (Aus) lost to Sofia Arvidsson (Swe)/Natalie Grandin (RSA) 7-5 6-2
Sophie Ferguson (Aus)/Jessica Moore (Aus) lost to Mervana Jugic-Salkic (BIH)/Anne Keothavong (GBR) 6-3 6-2
5-Samantha Stosur (Aus)/Rennae Stubbs (Aus) bt Jarmila Gajdosova (Aus)/Kaia Kanepi (Est) 6-1 6-4
12-Casey Dellacqua (Aus)/Francesca Schiavone (Ita) bt Petra Cetkovska (Cze)/Carla Suarez Navarro (Esp) 6-2 6-1
15-Tatiana Poutchek (Blr)/Anastasia Rodionova (Aus) bt Marta Domachowska (Pol)/Yanina Wickmayer (Bel) 6-1 6-1
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