HEATHMONT teenager Cody Brackenreg is on track to take out the Warrnambool Junior Grasscourt Open after two convincing displays of tennis.
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Brackenreg is the top seed in the 16 and under boys’ section at the Optus Junior Tour tournament and lived up to his billing by winning his first two matches yesterday.
The 15-year-old, ranked number nine in Australia for his age group, defeated Andres Urrego-Veron 6-4, 6-1 in the morning.
He backed up the effort with a 6-2, 7-6 win against Mustafa Ibraimi in the afternoon to book a match against Hamish McLeod in a quarter-final today. Cody said he was using the Warrnambool tournament as a lead-in to open-age Australian Money Tournaments at Albury and Wodonga in January.
He was pleased with his performances yesterday, despite Andres almost forcing their match into a deciding third set.
“I started off all right. I took the first set pretty easy, but in the second I slowed down a bit and he took it up to me,” Cody said.
“I definitely served well, volleyed well and used my tactics real well.”
Cody is competing in Warrnambool for the second time, after making his debut last year.
He said he enjoyed the trip to the south-west.
“It’s a good lead-in tournament to the big ones and it’s a good atmosphere,” he said. “Obviously grass is one of my favourite surfaces and it’s on the beach, it’s a good area.
“It’s good for getting the body right again.”
Day two of the Warrnambool Junior Grasscourt Open had its highs and lows for the Brackenreg family.
Cody is one of a set of triplets and is contesting the tournament alongside his sister Maddi.
Another sister, Tyler, is an emerging skier and is with the Australian Institute of Sport team braving the snow in Denver instead of basking in the sun.
While Cody lived up to his top seed status, Maddi pushed her rival in the 16 and under girls’ section, ultimately losing to top seed Bianca Duff, 7-6, 6-1.
The top seeds in the boys’ and girls’ sections at 12, 14 and 16 and under levels all remain in contention for Monday’s finals.
Warrnambool’s best hope, fifth-seed Sophie Drake, has the task of upstaging one of them, Jaimee Fourlis, in a 14 and under girls’ quarter-final today.
