Melbourne Park, 12 December 2011 | Matt Trollope
The big four in the boys’ draw at the Optus 12s Australian Championships progressed with a minimum of fuss at Melbourne Park today, with Benard Nkomba, Kody Pearson, Chase Ferguson and Nathanael Consalvo all winning through to the third round.
No.1 seed Nkomba brushed aside Jack Hardy in one hour and 22 minutes on Court 21. Hardy had won his first round match 6-0 6-1 against the ACT’s James Williams, but the result was reversed today when he fell 6-1 6-0 to Nkomba.
Second-seeded Pearson defeated Western Australia’s Rigby Dowland 6-2 6-2 to set up a final 16 clash with Victorian Ted Williams, who upset 14th seed Todd Millington by a 6-1 6-1 scoreline.
> Optus 12s Australian Championships photos
It was one of the few upsets in a day of routine seeded victories – the only other seed to fall was No.10 Stefan Norodom, who was knocked out 6-4 7-5 by New Zealand’s Te Kani Williams.
Third seed Chase Ferguson and No.4 seed Consalvo both came through their matches in 6-2 6-2 decisions, defeating Brock Meuris and Christopher Cox respectively.
Ferguson will next take on Queenslander and No.16 seed Moerani Bouzige, who trounced Connor Di Marco 6-0 6-2. Next up for Consalvo will be 13th seed Rinki Hijikata, who breezed by Alex Mcpherson in straight sets.
In the girls’ draw the top seeds progressed in similarly convincing fashion, led by No.1 seed Seone Mendez, who coasted against Queensland’s Shan-Ying Barr throughout her 6-2 6-1 win.
Even more devastating was the form of third seed Destanee Aiava, who crushed South Australian Amber Marshall 6-0 6-0 in just 55 minutes. Her next opponent, China’s Zhao Lee, was also a 6-0 6-0 winner.
Joining Mendez and Aiava in the third round at Melbourne Park were No.2 seed Julia Makridis – a 6-3 6-0 winner over Erika Bollweg – and fourth seed Aleksa Cveticanin. Queenslander Cveticanin accounted for the unseeded Brooke Winley 6-4 6-1 in a more convincing performance than her first round hit-out, where she was stretched to three sets by Victorian Gabriela Ruffels.
The only seeds to fall in the girls draw were 11th seed Bethany Toner and 14th seed Stephanie Serafidis.
Play continues in the 12s event tomorrow at Melbourne Park.
