Aussie Murray-slayer up for Chennai challenge

CHENNAI: Even as Australia’s Jordan Thompson tries to build on his fledgling career, it’s his win over former world No. 1 Andy Murray at Queen’s Club Championships last year that remains the unmistakable highlight. But it wasn’t the only high point of a breakthrough year for the man from Sydney who is the top seed for the Chennai Open Challengers event that gets underway here from Monday.Apart from becoming the first Australian to defeat Murray, Thompson also achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 63 in February 2017 and was part of the Australian team that went down to Belgium in the Davis Cup semifinal.
“For me, 2017 was a fantastic year. I had a lot of good wins against quality players like Murray. I had the Davis Cup as well, which was a big highlight for me. This year, I have had a relatively slow start. But the belief is still there. I just need to get going again,” Thompson said after sweating it out for more than two hours at the SDAT Tennis Stadium here on Sunday.
Starting with the 2018 Chennai Open Challenger, the 23-year-old will be hoping to rekindle that form and live up to the billing of being top seed for this tournament. Thompson’s biggest obstacle over the course of the next week will be second seed Yuki Bhambri, who is leading India’s challenge. The two have played each other just once before, and it wasn’t a particularly fond memory for the Australian.
“I have faced Bhambri only once before – in 2015. He beat me pretty easily actually. I have only looked at the first round so far where I will be up against Egypt’s Karim-Mohamed Maamoun. I just need to take it one match at a time. This is my first time in India,” said Thompson.
If Thompson can go all the way here, the Australian will hope it could provide the foundation for another potentially fruitful year. Although part of a young generation of talented Australians including the likes of Nick Kyrgios, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Bernard Tomic, none of them has quite cut it in Grand Slam tournaments as yet. While Thompson did not want to be drawn into why that has been the case, he remains confident that Kyrgios in particular can eventually realise his immense potential.
“I don’t really know why they haven’t been able to fulfil their talent at the highest level. I will stay clear of those questions. Kyrgios is definitely capable of winning a Slam. He’s got an unbelievable serve and a big body frame. He has made a couple of Grand Slam quarterfinals. He is still only 22. He still has a lot of opportunities ahead of him considering guys are playing well into their 30s these days.”