Jordan Thompson was the first Australian for me to see in action at this years Open and he reached the main draw by way of winning the wild card play off in November. His task in the first round was to battle Poland's great hope and last years surprise Wimbledon semi finalist Jerzy Janowicz, seeded 20 here in 2014.
However, Jerzy had not travelled well since his dizzy heights on grass in London, not that the effects of the grass caused him discomfort. Only seven wins from 14 matches for the rest of 2013, coupled with a loss in his single 2014 outing to a player ranked outside the top 50, were not the stuff for building a solid CV.
Against youthful and inexperienced Thompson it shouldn't matter too much - this would be relatively straightforward one suspected. Which one that was is still to be determined.
The early running saw Thompson matching it with Janowicz in all parts and games went with serve until 1-2 with Jerzy to deliver. With unexpected poise and willingness to attack, Thompson pressured Janowicz into error and achieved a break of serve that not many had predicted for him.
The momentum stuck with the young Aussie as he cemented the break to lead 4-1,
Knowing that a double break could just about seal the set, Jordan set about destroying Jerzy's next attempts from the line. All over the court like a cat, Thompson harried Janowicz into poor decision making, and ultimately the serve was dropped. Thompson led 5-1 with serve to come. Despite some excellent backhands from Jerzy, it was Jordan who hung tough when it mattered and a forehand winner underscored a most impressive 6-1 first set win.
I left the match at this point to attend to other commitments but kept an eye on the scores - Thompson won the second set to lead 6-1 6-4 but experience told and Janowicz won through 1-6 4-6 6-4 6-2 6-1. An excellent debut performance from an Australian ranked in the 300s. Fighting qualities from Janowicz bode well for later in the tournament.
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