Forget the quality of the tennis – my biggest concern during yesterday’s second round qualifying match at the ATP Challenger in Sydney between Rubin Statham and Kai Wehnelt was not getting seasick! The wind was so strong that the fence on which the camera was mounted was rocking back and forth for most of the first set, and it was enough to make you queasy. Statham served first, but it was Wehnelt who got out of the blocks first with a beautiful cross-court backhand winner on the first point, although Statham went on to hold serve with his second ace. Wehnelt hit a beautiful inside-out forehand winner on his own second point, but lost a great rally on the third when forced into a backhand error before ending the gamer with two aces of his own.
Statham ended the next game with another ace, and Wehnelt followed suit, but in his case it came after two deuces. Statham had another routine hold before we saw the best rally in the set, a fantastic 16 shot exchange that ended when a volley from Statham forced Wehnelt into a backhand error. He still went on to win the game, ending with another ace. Statham hit a beautiful cross-court backhand winner as games continued to go with serve, and his next hold meant that Wehnelt needed to hold again to keep the set alive. He started with his sixth ace, and followed a forehand into the net with a nice inside-out forehand winner, but he followed a double fault with a forehand into the net to give away a set point – and double faulted again. The set had taken 35 minutes.
Statham held serve comfortably to start the second set before hitting a fabulous forehand return down the left sideline. Wehnelt countered with a gorgeous backhand winner down the line on the way to holding serve in turn, and Statham made it three holds in a row after starting with a beautiful cross-court backhand winner. Wehnelt had followed that with a lovely forehand winner down the line, but couldn’t win any more points. A backhand into the net cost Wehnelt the first break in the second set, but he got it straight back when he forced Statham to hit a forehand into the tramlines at the end of a short rally. Wehnelt started the next game with a beautiful cross-court backhand volley, and ended the game with his eighth ace to get back on level terms.
He then broke Statham again, hitting a beautiful backhand return down the line on the second point and ending the game with a tapped backhand volley. The next two games saw comfortable holds, leaving Wehnelt serving for the set. It didn’t work out that way, as he started with two forehand unforced errors and a double fault. Another ace saved one break point, but a beautiful inside-out backhand return of serve from Statham converted the second. Statham then had to get through two deuces, saving a break point after the first when Wehnelt ended a fantastic rally with a cross-court backhand into the tramlines. He then hit the shot of the match, a fantastic cross-court forehand winner, when Wehnelt served again, and an overhit backhand from the German gave away two match points. Two great serves saw Statham’s replies go out of court, but the latter hit a fabulous backhand winner down the line to end a fantastic rally and take them to a second deuce. Wehnelt’s tenth ace gave him the advantage, and Statham’s return of the next serve went into the net.
Statham lost the first point in the tie-break with an overhit backhand, but erased the mini-break with a beautiful backhand winner down the line on the next point. Wehnelt lost the first of his next pair of serves when Statham ended a great rally with an easy forehand winner down the left sideline, and that gave him the advantage as they changed ends. The best rally of the match came next, but Wehnelt lost that as well when he hit a forehand volley into the net on the 21st shot. His backhand return of Statham’s first point went long, and that gave the New Zealander a third match point. Wehnelt was forced to hit a backhand into the net, and the match was all over after an hour and 31 minutes. The final score was 6-4, 7-6 (2).