Damm and Mayot ease to opening wins in Melbourne
It has been a long time since Martin Damm was last in Australia – so long, in fact, that the 16-year-old was too young to remember his last appearance while father Martin Damm Sr was competing at the Australian Open in the early 2000s.
“This was the Grand Slam I came to the least, just because of how far it was,” says Damm, whose dad reached the 2006 men’s doubles final at Melbourne Park before winning the US Open doubles title later that year.
But after a rough start to his return in testing conditions in Traralgon last week, the rangey No.2 seed looks to have found his stride in time for his Australian Open debut, opening with a 6-4 6-1 victory over Venezuela’s Lorenzo Claverie.
“Traralgon was pretty rough, with the weather – it was raining for three straight days there and lots of wind,” explained Damm, who will face Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic in the second round. “Then we came here and had some good practice, got used to the weather here, and so far it’s been pretty perfect.”
2019 was a breakout year for Damm, who reached the semi-finals at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon, where he was pipped by eventual champion Shintaro Mochizuki 6-1 0-6 10-8.
“I was pretty devastated after that, but then we just went back to work,” he reflects. “For me right now, it doesn’t matter so much about the results – I just need to work and trust that I’ll have even better results. Those semi-final runs gave me a lot of confidence. They taught me how to play in a bigger environment, like here at the Grand Slams where the pressure is a little higher.”
With two years left in the junior ranks, time is on Damm’s side in terms of his development, but thoughts have already turned to the professional ranks, especially after reaching the final of M25 Naples in Florida late in 2019.
“Obviously, a goal of mine is to win a Grand Slam,” Damm said. “That would be a big achievement for me. But I’m also going to start playing more ITF World Tennis Tour events now, and maybe hopefully ATP Challengers in the US, to hopefully get used to playing with the older guys and having good results there as well.”
Top seed Harold Mayot is well on his way with his transition to the pros. The French No.1 seed warmed up for his Australian Open campaign with Challenger appearances in New Caledonia and Bendigo, where he reached the quarter-finals before falling to former world No.21 Steve Johnson.
“It’s different, for sure,” Mayot said of the junior-senior experience. “The pros are more serious, that’s the most important thing. They serve really well, better serves and returns than the juniors. But I think the level of juniors is very high, so every single match here is going to be tough. It helped me to play some Challengers before, and I’m ready to play juniors again.”
Like Damm, the majors are Mayot’s 2020 focus as he looks to sign off his junior career on a high after a solid season in 2019, culminating in his run to the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals in Chengdu.
“After that, if I won one, I would stop juniors,” said the 17-year-old, who opened his account in Australia with a 6-2 7-5 win over Germany’s Benito Sanchez Martinez. “I will play Roland Garros, because it’s in my home country, but I think if I won here or there, I would stop. And I’m going to play Chengdu as I did last year, if my ranking is good enough.
“Chengdu was a great experience. It’s like a Masters, which is a change to the other tournaments. It’s a great tournament for the juniors, and it was a good experience. Every match was tough, every battle was hard – I made the final, which was great, and lost to Holger [Vitus Nodskov Rune], who was the best player in juniors last year. I hope to win Chengdu this year.”
While Mayot and Damm made steady strides through the 2019 season, Alexandra Eala burst out of the pack late in the year, going from the qualifying draw at the US Open to No.4 seed in the girls’ singles draw just four months later.
The 14-year-old from the Philippines shot up the rankings after stunning performances at the Grade A events, winning JA Cape Town and reaching the final of JA Osaka, and opened her Australian Open campaign with a 6-0 4-6 6-2 victory over Israel’s Shavit Kimchi.
“Cape Town was probably one of the first big wins I had in the junior circuit,” Eala said. “It really meant a lot to me – it boosted my confidence a lot, and it boosted my ranking. Everything went up from there.”
Eala also pays credit to the impact of her scholarship at the Rafael Nadal Academy – something of a dream for a player who idolises the Spaniard, as well as Simona Halep.
“They are two big idols for me, ever since I was young,” Eala said. “The academy in Spain is amazing – it’s done so much for my tennis and I’m so lucky to be one of their scholars. I definitely wouldn’t be here without them, and I appreciate their support. It’s very demanding physically and mentally, especially being away from your family. But it helps you grow as a person, and as a player also.
“I’ve been watching Rafa ever since I was playing tennis. you learn things from watching him and from him being your idol you get tips from him about good behaviour, good mentality, working hard and things like that. Being in the academy is a really big honour for me – for them to help me out is amazing.”