The Australian Open, one of the four major tennis tournaments, began with the wheelchair division, and in the first round of the men's singles, 16-year-old Kaito Oda, ranked 3rd in the world, defeated an American player and advanced to the top 8.
On the ninth day (24th) of the Australian Open held in Melbourne, Australia, the wheelchair division began, and in the men's singles first round, Oda, 16 years old, ranked 3rd in the world, and the United States, ranked 15th in the world. , Casey Ratzlaff played against.
Oda held on in the first set and the first game, but in the middle of the second game, the rain got stronger and there was a temporary interruption, but even after the restart, he kept his concentration and overwhelmed him with his strong serve. I got it at -1.
In the 8th game of the 2nd set, the service game was broken first, but Oda quickly returned the break and it was a tense situation, but he made a powerful backhand near the line and scored 7-5. , and advanced to the best 8 with a straight win with a set count of 2 to 0.
Last year, 16-year-old Oda became a professional wheelchair tennis player and made it to the quarter-finals at the French Open, his first appearance in the four Grand Slam tournaments. He became the youngest player in the history of the tournament to win.
Oda started wheelchair tennis on January 22 after being inspired by the retired Shingo Kunieda, and is expected to be Kunieda's successor.