Klizan wins boys singles title
By Benjamin Waldbaum
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Martin Klizan's spectacular Grand Slam debut reached an historic finale on Sunday, when the 17-year-old became the first Slovakian to win a junior Grand Slam tournament, beating Canada's Philip Bester for the boys singles title.
A month on from his 17th birthday, Klizan found himself on Court Suzanne Lenglen (the first time that the boys final had been played on such a prestigious court), where he clinched the final 6-3 6-1 in a mere 54 minutes.
"I'm so happy," said Klizan afterwards, seemingly more nervous at the prospect of having to speak English than he was at playing in his first major final. "I'm the champion, I can hardly believe it!"
Philip Bester was also the first Canadian to make it through to the final of a Grand Slam tournament, but the 31C (88F) heat seemed to get to the youngster with the Max Mirnyi-esque serve-and-volley playing style, who committed 26 unforced errors to his opponent's 10. He also seemed intimidated by the strength and powerful service of the 6'2" (1.87m) lefty from Bratislava.
Klizan virtually had it all his own way throughout the tournament, after struggling in the opening round against Argentina's Emiliano Massa, before finally coming through 2-6 7-6(4) 7-5 in two hours, 49 minutes.
From that point onwards, Klizan, who won the European 16 and under championship in 2005, did not so much as drop a set en route to the title.
"From the third round up until the semifinals, Martin was really on top of his game," said his coach Ladislav Simon.
Klizan first took up tennis at the age of three, with his father Milan, and was being coached at the Slavia Bratislava club at the age of five. He is now at the Slovak national tennis academy, where he and five other young stars are coached by Ladislav Simon, Milan Martinec and Martin Liptak.
This was his first ever Grand Slam tournament, but Klizan had already won two junior tournaments, the most recent being on clay at Salsomaggiore (Grade 2) in Italy.
"That's my favorite surface," he said after the match. "I don't know why, but I just can't seem to play on hard courts."
The youngster will have to learn quickly, though, since he has Wimbledon and the US Open ahead of him at junior level, and then the Future and Challenger tournaments.
Klizan's ultimate aim is to make it into the world top 10, and to play against his idol, Rafael Nadal. "We're both left-handed," smiled Klizan, "and I love that fact the he seems pumped up all the time."
