Hutchins & Kerr fall at the first
Polish seeds advance at Aussie Open…
Ross Hutchins and Jordan Kerr fell at the first hurdle in the Australian Open, beaten by Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski 6-4 2-6 7-6(4).
The Anglo-Aussie duo blitzed their opponents in the second set after dropping a tight first, but were left heartbroken after a third set tiebreak defeat.
“It was such a tight one that got away,” said Hutchins in the wake of the loss. “Such an even match – it deserved a final-set tiebreak, it really was that level.”
Facing the No.7 seeds out on Court 14, Hutchins and Kerr made the most of some lapses on serve to race through the second set and level the match, but Matkowski and Fyrstenberg upped their game in the third set.
With twelve games failing to separate the two pairs, last year’s quarterfinalists came good in the ensuing breaker to advance to the second round.
Hutchins made no excuses after what he deemed a good performance from himself and Kerr on their first Grand Slam outing together.
“Jordan played well, we combine well together,” reiterated the world No.47. “They served a bit better than us in the tie-break which was crucial.”
And the London native says there’s plenty more to come from the fledgling partnership, who reached the final of the Sydney International last week.
“I’m still feeling positive after this Aussie swing – there’s a long year ahead,” he added.
“I think once we’ve played more matches together we’ll be better equipped to win these matches against the top teams.”
The Australian Open action doesn’t stop there for Hutchins. He will partner American 2007 doubles champion Liezel Huber in the mixed doubles draw.
Hutchins and Huber face Chia-Jung Chuang of Taipei and Slovakia’s Filip Polasek in the first round.
