Australian Open players' brilliant act after scary ball kid collapse
Pedro Martinez and Federico Delbonis have been praised around the tennis world after coming to the aid of a ball kid who collapsed at the Australian Open on Monday.
Martinez and Delbonis were locked in a tense first set tiebreaker in their opening round clash when the scary incident occurred.
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With Martinez up 9-8 in the breaker, play came to a halt when the young ball kid collapsed to the ground.
Noticing the danger, Delbonis sprinted from the other side of the court to help the youngster, with Martinez also coming to her aid.
Both players attempted to help as a line judge ushered the youngster to a chair by the side of the court.
The young girl was given water and a rest before play eventually continued.
Martinez went on to win the tiebreaker 17-15 before winning the match in four sets.
Aussie pulls off remarkable upset in opening round
Wildcard underdog Aleksandar Vukic provided the story of the day on Monday, claiming the biggest win of his career to send No.30 seed Lloyd Harris crashing out of the Australian Open.
Vukic held his nerve in a tight encounter on Court 3, winning 4-6 6-3 7-5 7-6 (7-3) against South African Harris in two hours and 53 minutes.
It continued a good recent run of form from Sydneysider Vukic, who reached his first ATP Tour quarter-final last week in Adelaide before bowing out to eventual champion and fellow Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis.
The 25-year-old received a standing ovation from the delighted home crowd as Vukic shook his head, seemingly in disbelief after posting his breakthrough first main-draw win at a grand slam.
"It was one of the loudest atmospheres I've every seen to be honest and it was all for me, all for the Aussies," said Vukic, who knows a fair bit about parochial supporters, having cut his teeth on the US collegiate circuit.
"I couldn't have done it without them. It's a dream for sure."
Vukic's reward is a second-round clash against Moldovan qualifier Radu Albot, with the winner of that match likely to face No.3 seed Alexander Zverev.
Zverev takes on John Millman in the second round, after the 32-year-old Australian beat fellow veteran Feliciano Lopez 6-1 6-3 4-6 7-5.
However World No.49 James Duckworth let slip a two-sets-to-one lead in a disappointing 6-4 2-6 3-6 6-2 6-1 loss to Frenchman Adrian Mannarino
The 29-year-old Australian No.2 has now won just four of his 11 matches at the majors that have gone to five sets.
with AAP
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