The Murray River Open will be forever engraved in Harry Bourchier's memory with the 25-year-old Tasmanian winning his first ATP tour victory on Monday night.
The Hobart-born talent defeated fellow Australian Marc Polmans 6-4 6-4 in an hour and 22 minutes to put his name out there for a potential showdown against Nick Kyrgios, Bourchier's former training partner.
Kyrgios confirmed Bourchier's second consecutive Australian showdown with a 3-6 6-4 7-6 victory over Frenchman Alexandre Muller on Tuesday afternoon.
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Originally an alternate for the tournament, which is a part of the Melbourne summer series, Bourchier was gifted his spot in the main draw due to a last-minute withdrawal from Bernard Tomic, coincidentally who the Tasmanian was meant to play at a UTR event in Queensland late last year.
Despite an even head-to-head of one-all at the Challenger level and Bourchier defeating Polmans in straight sets in the Victorian premier league, the world No. 324 was painted as the underdog in the clash thanks to his opponent's high-level wins.
The alternate showed he wasn't overawed by the occasion, breaking Polmans' serve in the fifth game of the contest drawing commentator and 15-time Grand Slam doubles champion Todd Woodbridge to say "the game lies on Bourchier's racquet".
He held his nerve to secure the first set in 37 minutes, before digging deep to save three break points early in the second.
Momentum would then swing in the Tasmanian's favour, breaking Polmans' serve in the third game and staving off multiple challenges from the highly-fancied world No. 125.
Both Woodbridge and fellow commentator Mark Petchey agreed that Bourchier was more composed in the contest's bigger moments, which was shown in the final game as he hit a cross-court winner with pin-point accuracy despite Polmans covering the main angle.
Josh Partridge
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
