By Marcus Uhe
Emerging Dandenong tennis player Ymerali Ibraimi made a winning start to life in grand slam tennis last week, prevailing in his first-round contest in the Junior Boys’ Singles competition at the Australian Open.
Dressed in red and with a home crowd cheering him home, the 15-year-old overcame Brazilian Pedro Albuquerque Dietrich in straight sets, 7-5 6-3 to advance to the second round in his first appearance at one of tennis’ four majors, before bowing out to second seed Kazak, Amir Omarkhanov in the second, 6-4 6-3.
The right-hander’s ability to hold serve and win crucial service breaks was pivotal in the defeat of his Brazilian opponent in what was a tightly-fought 98-minute battle.
Games were won on serve for the duration of the first set before Ibraimi broke the run of holds in the final service game to claim the set 7-5.
It was a similar pattern in the second, with the eighth game breaking the contest open, as Ibraimi once again broke his opponent to take a slender advantage at 5-3, allowing him to serve for the set, and the match.
The following game had its travails, forced to defend a break point down 30-40, but he reeled off the next three points to book his place in the second round.
His contest against the 17-year-old Omarkhanov on Tuesday 21 January was a far greater challenge, as the second seed found a way to end Ibraimi’s dominance on serve.
He was broken five times in total, twice in the first and three times in the second as the experience and development of the older player proved a major advantage.
Omarkhanov showed a complete all-round game, winning nearly 80 per cent of points at the net compared to the Australian’s 11 per cent, hit 20 winners to eight and won just shy of half the service points on Ibraimi’s racquet.
Sandwiched between the two singles bouts was an unsuccessful doubles contest, where Ibraimi teamed up with fellow Australian Jonas Hahn in a straight sets loss.
Ibraimi represented Dandenong Tennis Club and St Mary’s Tennis Club during his rise up the junior ranks and can still be found training at Dandenong’s courts multiple times per week.
He earned qualification for the Boys’ Australian Open draw after winning the Under 16s Age Group at the 2024 Australian Junior Tour Finals in Bendigo in December last year.
The win in Bendigo is a strong omen for Ibraimi, with idol Nick Kyrgios a previous winner.
