Harry keen to repeat history
Young gun wants back-to-back wins
TASMANIAN young gun Harry Bourchier is confident he can repeat his feats of last year and go back-to-back at this week’s 2019 Victorian Grasscourt Championships.
Bourchier will enter the tournament as the No.1 seed on the back of his history defining victory in 2018, where he became the first non-Victorian to claim the title in more than 20 years.
The 23-year-old acknowledged he would need to approach the AMT event at Geelong Lawn Tennis Club with a sense of caution given the talent in the field but said he was healthy and raring to go.
“I’m really looking forward to getting back on the grass,” Bourchier said. “It has been almost a year since I was on the grass courts and it is just a different game to what we normally play on the hardcourt, with a different strategy.
“It is a good time around Christmas and the New Year and I am definitely looking forward to coming back. I know I have the ability to beat everyone in the draw and I am the No.1 seed but I have to put that aside and take it match by match.
“If I am healthy though I am pretty confident I can have another win in Geelong.”
Bourchier’s win last year kick started a whirlwind season that saw him earn victories in China and Singapore, while his world ranking rocketed from the 700s into the 200s.
Another strong performance in Geelong could see him sneak into Australian Open qualifiers, which will be held in January a week prior to the grand slam event. But Bourchier said his immediate focus was getting through the Victorian Grasscourts.
“I had a pretty good year, I started off around 750 in the world and finished about 290, so I am definitely happy with how I have been going and it all started this time last year in Geelong,” he said.
“I am only a few spots out of reaching the qualifying stages for the Australian Open — which is a week before the event — so I am 95 per cent sure I will be playing in that, which is exciting.
“I played a lot of matches over summer and that helped me, I won a lot of matches in Canberra and then in Tasmania as well, so the more matches I play the more confident I feel on court.
“Geelong helped me last year so I am hoping it does the same for me this year.”
Bourchier will also feature in the doubles alongside the No.2 seed in singles, Brandon Daly-Walkin.
BELL Park coach Mick Lymer says Saturday’s one-day grand final triumph will only strengthen the belief in the group as it bids for the main prize next year.
Claiming a 55-run win over Marshall on Saturday, Lymer’s is confident his side’s performance will only strengthen hopes for a second two-day premiership in three seasons.
“It just gives belief amongst the group,” Lymer said.
“We get a taste of success in December, turn around and have Christmas with the family and everyone’s ready to come back in the New Year and go full steam ahead.
“We hit Marshall in a twodayer (next round) and we know we’ve got five two-dayers and we’re sitting two games clear, we just need to come back and win three of those five games and we’re playing finals cricket again.
“It gives the group belief, a bit of a refresher and you can’t buy success. To get what we’ve got on Saturday, it will only make us stronger.”
While acknowledging his side has bigger fish to fry in March, Lymer stressed that the one-day premiership “means everything” to his group.
“I don’t coach a club to make grand finals and not win them,” Lymer said.
“I’m not there to get a good side together and then lose. A grand final is a grand final. They don’t come around that often and some blokes have played cricket all their life and don’t get an opportunity to play in one.
“So when you get the chance, you want to win. I said this on the day, it’s a credit to the GCA for having the balls, so to speak, to put this competition on. I know Division 1 and Division 3 are envious of what we’re doing, and to sit back in December and be playing for silverware, it’s unbelievable by the GCA and hats off to them.”