The 69th ranked Narrandera native Samuel Groth contested today only his third main draw Wimbledon match, as he faced fellow Australian James Duckworth for a spot in the third round, which would be a new personal best for either man.
And the 27-year old prevailed over his 23-year old opponent. The first set was widely dominated by the servers. The only break came in the 11th game after Duckworth double faulted to bring the first break points on his serve – he had held one on Groth’s previously – and despite avoiding getting broken right away, he eventually dropped the game with another double fault. Serving for the set at 6/5, the world No. 69 struggled: his opponent had seven opportunities to force a tiebreak, but he survived each and every one of them. Finally, after three forced errors from a break point down by Duckworth, Groth wrapped the first frame, 7/5.
If the second set was a tight contest until Groth stood out to clinch it, the second set gave all the impression Duckworth’s wasted chances had gotten to him. After getting broken twice in his first two game of the frame – and three in a row backdating to the first set – the older Aussie sat comfortably with a 4/0 lead before his foe managed to win take the zero off his name on the scores. However, James won two consecutive games, breaking the three-time Challenger Tour titlist to return to stay within a break distance of his opponent. However, they exchanged a pair of holds, and when Groth returned to serve for the set, he took it to 15, claiming a two-set lead.
The final set, however, saw more dominance from the serves, as both Australians exchanged holds until the 12th game. Duckworth, in the eleventh game, was the only one to face a break-point, but fended them off. In the tiebreaker, the trend continued, but Groth was the one who found himself on the verge of losing the set first, at 5-6. However, a missed volley not only erased Duckworth’s set point, but also put Samuel in conditions of closing out the match. And he did, by winning the next two points, sealing his straight sets win.
After the 7/5, 6/4, 7/6 (8-6) triumph, Samuel Groth advances to face 2nd seeded Roger Federer, who seeks his 8th Wimbledon title. The Swiss won their only previous meeting.