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Rising Taiwanese star just misses out on tennis glory

Rising Taiwanese tennis star Yang Tsung-hua (楊宗樺) yesterday lost in the final of the boys' singles competition at the Australian Open to Bernard Tomic of Australia. Fifth seed Tomic beat the 16-year-old 10th seed Yang in three sets, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-0.

Despite playing in front of an Aussie crowd rooting for Tomic, Yang started impressively, holding his nerve to claim the first set.

A closely fought second set went to a tiebreak. Facing three set points at 6-3 down, Yang pulled the score back to 6-5 in Tomic's favor before conceding the set.

Having been within a few points of winning the championship, the wheels fell off for the Taiwanese in the deciding set, and Tomic wrapped up the victory in convincing style.

Despite his defeat yesterday, the ranking points Yang gained during his impressive run to the final mean that his junior ranking will receive a substantial boost.

Yang said he was disappointed to have lost yesterday, but that "there was not a big difference between us."

The 16-year-old said he needed to work on his serve.

"My serve is fast enough, but not consistent enough. My second serve is quite a bit slower and I'm not able to keep up the pressure on my opponent," he said.

Yang is also determined to work on his stamina, saying he felt tired after progressing so far in both singles and doubles competitions.

On Friday, Yang teamed up with fellow Taiwanese Hsieh Cheng-peng (謝正鵬) to claim the boys' doubles title.

Yang is due to arrive in Taiwan this afternoon and will return to Hsinchu to celebrate with his family before heading to Kaohsiung to prepare for a Davis Cup tie against Australia next month.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LUNG PO-AN

Also see: Sharapova wins third Grand Slam
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