MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Top seed Bruno Kuzuhara won the Australian Open junior boys’ title on Saturday, in an extraordinary conclusion to a marathon match that saw his Czech opponent Jakub Mensik collapse with cramp after match point and taken off court in a wheelchair.
Mensik won a long rally to make it 30-30 at 5-6 in the third and concluding set, but he was barely able to stand following that exchange and hit two consecutive double faults to hand victory to the American, who prevailed 7-6(4) 6-7(6) 7-5 in just under four hours.
“First of all, it’s an unfortunate way to win it,” said Kuzuhara in an-court interview. “I’m wishing Jakub a speedy recovery. It was a great fight. We pushed each other right until the end. Great match, if you’re watching inside. Thanks man.”
The 17-year-old Kuzuhara walked across the court to check on Mensik after the final point before officials arrived with a wheelchair to escort him off for treatment.
In the girls’ singles final, Croatian top seed Petra Marcinko secured her first major title with a 7-5 6-1 win over Belgium’s Sofia Costoulas.
(Reporting by Dhruv Munjal in Bengaluru; editing by John Stonestreet)
