Czechia's Kumstat books Australian Open semifinal on junior slam debut

In his Australian Open junior singles quarter-final against home favourite Hayden Jones, a match that lasted two hours and 39 minutes, Jan Kumstat held 19 break points.

Five of them came in the very first game, all of which he squandered.

Fortuitously for the Czech, playing his first very first major tournament, he prevailed in three sets 6-7(2) 6-3 7-5.

Included in the win was a 215kmh serve. Kumstat, who turned 17-years-old this month, is a beanpole, 196cm high he says but which seems a significant understatement. He comes also with the most grounded of outlooks.

Had he heard that the Polish junior, Tomasz Berkieta, hit a 233kmh serve earlier this week?

“I’m still 20 kilometres off, he is like dynamite,” said Kumstat.

Played on show court 3 before a good gathering of fans, this was as difficult a match as the junior tournament will throw up this fortnight and very possibly any other.

Jones will be not so much distraught as bewildered at the resilience of his opponent who never let his level drop. How do you fail to take 16 break points against a very good and in-form player in Jones yet still hold on to win?

Jones is a bouncy, jaunty character, resplendent in the bright orange shirt he has been wearing all week. Few players construct a point better than he does and there is a joy around his play and personality. His on court movement, as with his younger sister Emerson, is first class.

He is not the biggest player out there and so seeks his advantage elsewhere. Boxing, and UFC more precisely, has been a recent inspiration.

“I like Connor McGregor. He is such a character too, a lot of people like him and a lot of people don’t," he admits. "He inspires me, he is fearless as the fighters are but these guys go out to get punched unlike tennis players."

And it’s not all theory with Jones.

“With my coach, we started doing boxing lessons together and that has been good for my footwork and it’s really good for your fitness.”

Does he put gloves on?



“Yeah, we really go at each other. It’s fun.”

Unsurprisingly perhaps, there is a disclaimer.

“We don’t go for the face, we are not great but occasionally we jab each other by accident.”

It is unlikely Kumstat has ever been near a boxing ring.

Unfailingly quiet and polite (Jones is effervescent by contrast but equally polite) he will not be doing much socialising in Melbourne this week, simply because he doesn’t know anyone.

This Open is the first time his ranking - currently 42 - has been high enough to get him into the main draw of a junior Grand Slam.

He will face at least someone he has played before in Friday’s semi-final, Mees Rottgering from the Netherlands (they met last year in the Junior Davis Cup) who put out the highly impressive Amir Omarkhanov on Thursday evening.

When we spoke post match, I asked Kumstat if he’d like to sit down. He declined, politely of course, but equally looked as if he might not have been able to get up again had he momentarily rested his limbs. It was some battle.

Back to those break points in the first game.

“In those moments I couldn’t put my return in. It was five returns out or into the net and after that I only wanted to put the ball to the court and then it got into a rally every time. After 10 breakpoints, I broke his serve in the second set.’

Japan’s Rei Sakamoto plays the Norwegian Nicolai Budkov Kjaer in the other semi-final on Friday.