'Maybe I can buy myself a car': Birrell's keys to victory

We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.

Advertisement

This was published 5 years ago

'Maybe I can buy myself a car': Birrell's keys to victory

By Paul Sakkal
Upset: Kimberly Birrell stunned Donna Vekic on Wednesday.

Upset: Kimberly Birrell stunned Donna Vekic on Wednesday.Credit: AAP

C. Garcia d. Z. Hives 6-3, 6-3; M. Sakkari d. A. Sharma 6-1, 6-4; A Barty d. Y Wang 6-2, 6-3; K Birrell d. D Vekic 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

World No. 240 Kimberly Birrell – who earned her Australian Open spot with victory in the country's wildcard play-off – has stormed into the third round with a dominant win over 29th seed Donna Vekic.

Gold Coast's Birrell's three-set conquest means only she and Australia's top female player Ashleigh Barty have made it past the second round.

After losing the first set to the highly fancied Croatian, 20-year-old Birrell stormed home in the last, conceding only one game.

"It's so surreal", said Birrell

"[I] left it all out there ... I won't be able to get the smile off my face."

Meanwhile Australia's top-ranked player Ashleigh Barty kept her good form rolling with a comprehensive straight-sets victory over Chinese opponent Yafan Wang in an hour.

Birrell was on a path to early-career success when she made the semi-final of the 2014 Australian Open junior event, cracking the top 20 of the junior world rankings. Elbow surgery in 2016 caused her ranking to plummet out of the top 1000, forcing her to resurrect her career through the ITF circuit.

Birrell hails from the Queens Park Tennis centre in Queensland, the same academy attended by Samantha Stosur and Bernard Tomic. Birrell has fond memories as a young girl of rallying with Stosur at the centre which Birrell's parents now own and operate.

Advertisement
Birrell fought back from a set down to knock out the seeded Croatian.

Birrell fought back from a set down to knock out the seeded Croatian.Credit: AAP

Birrell vividly remembers watching Stosur's 2011 US Open final as a 12-year-old at Queen's Park with family and friends.

The German-born Birrell now faces a third-round match-up against German world No. 2 Angelique Kerber.

"That would be such an incredible experience," said Birrell, who beat another top-10 player in Daria Kasatkina only two weeks ago in Brisbane.

Wednesday was less positive for Australians Zoe Hives and Astra Sharma who both lost in straight sets to talented European opponents.

Caroline Garcia, the French No. 19 seed, took just over an hour to defeat Hives, while West Australian qualifier Sharma was eliminated by Greek world No. 45 Maria Sakkari in similar time.

Both Victorian Hives and West Australian Sharma said they struggled to adjust to playing in a large arena.

"Having people behind the server, I found it hard to pick up the ball at the start ... depth perception – it was all a little bit different," said Hives, 22.

Zoe Hives was unable to get past Caroline Garcia in the second round.

Zoe Hives was unable to get past Caroline Garcia in the second round.Credit: Luis Ascui

"I tried to play too well - [I] overplayed a bit," said Sharma, who lamented all of her serving, forehand and backhand being "off".

Sharma's Greek opponent enjoyed raucous support from a few dozen noisy Greek fans, reminiscent of that enjoyed by Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in previous Opens.

"It's really good for tennis - you'd rather play in front of them than have crickets in background,” said the 23-year-old.

Only having played on the Melbourne Park playing surface once before the Open, Hives said no amount of training could have prepared her for competitive play in a grand slam.

"You can never get that amount of people watching you train," Hives said after playing on 1573 Arena.

The Victorian has played most of her tennis on the ITF circuit, remarking on the step up to the highest level.

"You need to get it into play [on service return] and also put it in a [good] spot," she said.

"I don't think she [Garcia] missed a ball in the first four games."

Maria Sakkari (right) was too strong for Australian Astra Sharma.

Maria Sakkari (right) was too strong for Australian Astra Sharma.Credit: AAP

Hives and Birrell said the $105,000 in prizemoney would be a boon for their careers, with Hives saying it would provide her with the chance to travel on tour with a companion rather than on her own.

"I don't think they ever expected this," Hives said of her parents, who she has sometimes relied on for financial support.

Birrell already had her first purchase in mind: "Maybe I can buy myself a car now".

Wednesday's results follow the defeat of four Australians on Tuesday after Daria Gavrilova, Ajla Tomljanovic, Sam Stosur and wildcard Destanee Aiava all suffered losses.

Most Viewed in Sport

Loading