Tallon Greekpoor from Nieuw-Vennep failed to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open. The best tennis player in the Netherlands suffered a hopeless defeat against the Frenchman Arthur Cazaux. In one hour and 46 minutes it became 6-3 6-3 6-1 for the number 122 in the world.
Greek Spoor did not start well on court 3 of Melbourne Park and immediately lost its first service game. He was unable to make up for the deficit and at 5-3 the Frenchman finished it off convincingly with four strong serves.
In the early stages of the second set, Fransepoor was able to keep up, but was broken at 3-3. The North Hollander then threw his racket hard against the ground and broke it in half with his foot.
In the third set, Fransepoor had nothing more to say, much to his own frustration. The world number 31 was unable to achieve many quick points because his serve failed him and was often inferior to the Frenchman in the rallies.
At 4-1, Greekpoor eliminated three break points, but on the fourth break point, Cazaux came up with a nice passing after a lob from Greekpoor. Not much later, the Frenchman finished it off very convincingly with a series of good serves. He used his first match point after an hour and forty-five minutes. He hit a total of fourteen aces, compared to only four for Greek Spoor. The Dutchman did not get a single break point the entire match.
Not a scoop
Cazaux then celebrated with the French fans on the intimate court 3. Many French people had gathered on the secondary court, who were noisy throughout the match. After his previous match, Griekspoor indicated that he was suffering from a toe injury. It is not clear whether that injury hindered him against Cazaux.
“I played far below par and my forehand, backhand and serve didn’t work at all. I couldn’t find the court with the ball. But he deserved the win and I have to go back to the drawing board,” was the comment afterwards.
Greek Spoor could have reached the fourth round of a grand slam for the first time. He could have become the first Dutchman in twenty years in the fourth round in Melbourne. In 2004, Sjeng Schalken reached the last sixteen at the Australian Open.