Camden Riviere defeats Tim Chisholm 6/3 6/0 6/5.
After the drama of the snow in Tuxedo it was up to NTC to host the first leg of the world championship qualifiers. This was a clash of the all American titans and everyone was looking forward to what was poised to be a classic encounter. Many would of had the world #1 Camden Riviere as hot favorite for this match but he was up against one of the greatest players of all time in Tim Chisholm.
The first set was tight, Tim was serving the ‘caterpillar’ serve and it seemed to work rather nicely as he found himself 3-1 up. I was interested to see what tactics Tim would deploy in this match as nobody on the court tennis tour has been able to find an answer to the way Camden is playing tennis at the moment. Tim was being very positive attacking the volley of Camden with pace, there was a hint of top spin on his forces this may of threw Camden’s timing off. However sadly (for fans of Chisholm) this was merely a brief advantage as Camden began to find his length and rhythm from the service end. Camden reeled off 12 games in a row in a quite unbelievable 25 minute spell of tennis, he still wasn’t hitting the targets he may of wished but his sheer speed around the court and the ability to continually dig the seeming impossible balls from the corners completely threw Tim off.
So we found ourselves at 6/3 6/0 1/0 to Camden, the message this would send to the court tennis world would be huge! Surely he couldn’t dismantle a top player like this? For those who have seen Tim play will realize he really is a world class player and competitor. Tim did what all great competitors of all different sports do and he found a way back into the third set, it was a mammoth ask to come back and win this match but certain results from the 2013 British open may suggest these things do happen all be it rarely! We found ourselves at 3-3 in the third, Tim may look back at chances he had at the beginning of the third set as he had plenty of game point opportunities which he just couldn’t close out. Camden then won two very quick games to go 5/3 up and the match looked all but over, A couple of sloppy games from Camden and some superb retrieving from Tim and the set was tied at 5-5. The onlooking crowd found their voices as there was a chance that we might see some more tennis however a slight anti-climax as Camden took the game to 15 and the match 6/3 6/0 6/5.
Tim will take heart from the third set and that will give him confidence going into the second leg at Tuxedo. Camden was not at his brilliant best but if you can dismantle a player of Tim’s caliber in straight sets without finding your best form then this is a huge warning to any potential future opponents he may have coming up. This match is far from over but it will take a brave person to bet against Camden going all the way to Melbourne and beyond….
The match was superbly marked by NTC’s head professional Richard Smith and Brewer Rowe did a fantastic job refereeing from the dedans. A superb job done by NTC in organizing the event and thanks to everyone who came along to enjoy the match. We wish both players good luck for the rest of their challenge.
