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Six-time Grand Slam champion Dylan Alcott did his best to live up to the hype at Melbourne Park today, winning his first match of this year’s Australian Open tournament against compatriot Heath Davidson.

The Paralympic champion was unrelenting against his Australian teammate in the straight-sets victory (6-3, 6-2), as he aims to become only the second Australian player in history to win five consecutive Australian Open crowns.

In front of a roaring home crowd, Alcott scored 59 points to Davidson’s 41, during a battle which lasted one hour and five minutes. Alcott’s serve was particularly dominant, with his fastest reaching 144km/h.

Davidson fought hard to stay in touch and really pushed Alcott in stages of the second set as he did his best to captilise on his wildcard entry for this year’s tournament.

Davidson equalled Alcott’s three aces and the percentage of his first serves landing in was two percent higher than Alcott’s 65, showing his skills are sharpening as he looks to break into the top three in the world rankings.

While the two Australians have got their rivalry match out of the way, both will compete again tomorrow in the round-robin tournament, with Davidson up against former world No. 1 David Wagner (USA), and Alcott facing Great Britain’s Andy Lapthorne.

The Australian Open quad doubles tournament will also start tomorrow, with Alcott and Davidson looking to defend their 2018 crown.

By Sascha Ryner, APC Media
Posted: 23/01/2019