Brave Kellerman falls short
WHEELCHAIR tennis star Adam Kellerman battled hard in a first-round defeat in the singles draw at the 2014 Australian Open, showing great signs of improvement that will no doubt see him challenge for a top-10 International Tennis Federation (ITF) ranking in 2014.
WHEELCHAIR tennis star Adam Kellerman battled hard in a first-round defeat in the singles draw at the 2014 Australian Open, showing great signs of improvement that will no doubt see him challenge for a top-10 International Tennis Federation (ITF) ranking in 2014.
Kellerman gave sixth-seeded Dutchman Maikel Scheffers all he could handle in a thrilling encounter that ended with Kellerman on the wrong side of a 7-5, 7-5 scoreline.
The 23-year-old said he was proud of his performance.
“I was pretty happy with how I played,” Kellerman told The AJN.
“I did make a few too many unforced errors and double faults, but I was happy that I pushed him in both sets.”
Kellerman says he’s come a long way since his 6-4, 6-3 defeat to Stefan Olsson at last year’s grand slam and hopes he continues to improve.
“I definitely competed better this year than I did last time I was here,” Kellerman said.
“I’ve still got a lot to work on, like my serves and back-hands, and my coach says that I’ll have to practise thousands of both before my next tournament.”
Now sitting at 16 in the rankings – the top Australian – Kellerman is eyeing off the top 10 and will look to start his rise when he takes part in three ITF tournaments in USA.
“I know I’m not too far away, and if I keep doing what I’m doing I’m hoping to break into the top 10,” Kellerman said.
“I’ve got three tournaments in America coming up, which are good competitions that are well run, and then I’ll be in Japan, the Netherlands and Korea up until May, but after that it’s unknown.
“I’ll need to figure that out with my coach, but I’m looking forward to hopefully getting some more wins.”
Kellerman also featured in the doubles with Belgian partner Joachim Gerard, but the pair fell short 6-1, 6-4 to top seeds and eventual champions Stephane Houdet and Shingo Kunieda in the semifinal.
Meanwhile, American gun Scott Lipsky made the semifinals in the mixed doubles with Chinese partner Jie Zheng, bowing out to France’s Kristina Mladenovic and Canadian Daniel Nestor 6-3, 6-1 in the penultimate stage.
ASHLEY SHENKER AT MELBOURNE PARK
Photo: Peter Haskin
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