Melbourne, 19 January 2012 | AAP

James Duckworth has gone down in his second-round match with ninth seed Janko Tipsarevic, but not without a fight.

World No.9 Janko Tipsarevic was so impressed by the way Duckworth made him fight all the way for his four-set second round win at the Australian Open, he declared the 19-year-old can be “way better” than a top 100 player.

But before he can climb too far above his current ranking of 250, Duckworth needs to get Margaret Court Arena and Melbourne Park out of his head and turn to his next Challenger tournament in little Burnie in northern Tasmania.

His efforts in January have earned him enough points to be eligible for the qualifying rounds of the French Open and Wimbledon and if the form in his 3-6 6-2 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 loss on Thursday is any indication, he can make an impression in Paris and London as well as Burnie.

As impressive as his strong ground strokes, deft volleys, big serves and court movement was an unshakeable temperament in front of a big crowd against a player ranked 241 places higher with 61 more grand slam matches under his belt.

If not for his only stumble, a costly double fault at 5-5 in the tiebreak, the Davis Cup orange boy could have gone two sets to one up.

“I was impressed when there was important moments in the match that he stepped up, he didn’t wait for my mistake, he didn’t choke,” Tipsarevic said.

“I really had to outplay him and play better.

“I believe he can be way better than top 100, but I cannot predict it will happen this year.”

The Serb said Duckworth, who jumped nearly 500 places in world rankings last year after winning four Futures titles in Italy and Poland, needs to regularly perform on the lower tier before becoming an ATP tour fixture.

And Duckworth’s coach at the AIS, Brent Larkham, knows he has to prove himself on the Challenger tour.

“It was a great performance by James, but straight after the match we were a little disappointed because it’s nice to go close, but it’s nicer to win,” Larkham said.

“This is the important part for James now, going back to the reality of Challenger tour. He’s going to play Burnie and Caloundra and then he’s going to Europe for an extended lead up to French Open qualifying.”

Thursday’s effort came as no surprise to Larkham after Duckworth beat Nicolas Mahut in Brisbane and was competitive against regular top 20 players Gilles Simon and Jarkko Nieminen in Brisbane and Sydney this month.

But he was stunned by the young man’s mental toughness.

“He’s walked onto the biggest stage and he’s handled it. It’s very hard to teach that level of composure. He looked like he belonged out there,” Larkham said.

“He walks on Margaret Court Arena in front of a huge crowd against a top 10 player and he’s up 5-1 in 30 minutes.”

Next stop is Burnie Tennis Club, on the way to Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

Results Day 4

Men’s Singles

9-Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) bt WC-James Duckworth (AUS) 3-6 6-2 7-6(5) 6-4.

24-Kei Nishikori (JPN) bt Matthew Ebden 3-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-1.

Men’s Doubles

Carsten Ball (AUS)/Treat Huey (PHI) bt Ivo Karlovic (CRO)/Frank Moser (GER) 6-3 6-4.

Michal Mertinak (SVK)/Andre Sa (BRA) bt Alexandr Dolgopolov/Denys Molchanov (UKR) 6-2 6-2.

Julian Knowle (AUT)/Michael Kohlmann (GER) bt 16-Paul Hanley (AUS)/Jamie Murray (GBR) 7-6(2) 4-6 7-6(5).

WC-Colin Ebelthite/Marinko Matosevic (AUS) bt WC-Luke Saville/Andrew Whittington (AUS) 6-0 6-3.

2-Max Mirnyi (BLR)/Daniel Nestor (CAN) bt WC-Benjamin Mitchell/Matt Reid (AUS) 6-2 6-2.

Women’s Doubles

Eva Birnerova (CZE)/Alberta Brianti (ITA) bt WC-Stephanie Bengson/Tyra Calderwood (AUS) 6-4 6-4.

WC-Sacha Jones/Bojana Bobusic (AUS) bt Liga Dekmeijere (LAT)/Maria Kondratieva (RUS) 6-4 6-1.

12-Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS)/Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) bt Nina Bratchikova (RUS)/Darija Jurak (CRO) 4-6 6-3 6-2.