By Orin Davidson
Capitalizing on vociferous support from a small but ardent gathering of Guyanese, Sachia Vickery posted her maiden Grand Slam match victory yesterday by dispatching veteran Mirjana Lucic-Baroni at the US Open tennis tournament here in New York.
The 17 year old employed solid baseline tennis to send the former top world ranked Lucic-Baroni 6-4 6-4 to move into the second round at the Billie Jean-King complex. Before her mother Paula Liverpool and cousins including former national footballers Aubrey Hutson and Selwyn Hutson in the support group,
Vickery out-hustled her Croat opponent after a slow start, winning in an hour and a half.
“I love you all very much,” was all Vickery was allowed to say to Stabroek News when asked about her Guyanese fans, before being whisked away by security to the players’ lounge after a huge crowd built up at Court Seven as word spread about her victory.
Dropping her serve twice in the early stages of set one, the Florida-born teenager trailed 3-1, but rebounded with deep ground strokes to gradually wear down Lucic-Baroni to take control of the set. She broke the Croatian to nudge ahead 5-4 and easily served out the set when Lucic-Baroni netted a forehand.
After taking a 10-minute injury timeout due in part to the constant pounding of her diminutive opponent from the baseline, Lucic-Baroni found herself behind 2-0 after Vickery broke her in the first game and held serve to take a commanding lead. The Croat soon found herself 5-3 down as Vickery stayed ahead scrambling around the back court, countering Lucic-Baroni’s attacks with punishing ground-stroke defence. The Croat then silenced the teenager’s supporters by breaking her, taking advantage of Vickery’s serving weakness, to edge back 5-4. With her supporters chanting “one more (game)” Vickery was not to be denied and closed out the match by forcing Lucic-Baroni to hit a forehand wide as a thunderous roar of delight erupted from the Guyana ‘Crew’ which also included former national men’s singles champion Andy Wong and Guyana Tennis Association’s New York patron Dr Arthur Hazelwood.
“It is a blessing from God and I am confident in continued success for Sachia,” Liverpool stated after her daughter’s triumph. “You see here she is from good stock,” Liverpool added, indicating the Hutson brothers. Vickery is officially representing the United States, being part of the United States Tennis Association’s ( USTA) youth programme, but she has Guyana close to her heart as is evidenced by her Golden Arrowhead flag designed sweatband which she wears in every game. Her second fixture is set for tomorrow.
