Tennis: Boy wonder does Bay proud in Australian Open final

IMPRESSIVE EFFORT: Hawke's Bay's Finn Reynolds did his club and country proud during last night's final. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Hawke's Bay tennis player Finn Reynolds was too disappointed to talk after Friday night's under-18 doubles final at the Australia Open in Melbourne.

Reynolds shouldn't have been. He had done himself, Hawke's Bay Lawn club and country proud as he and Portuguese partner Durate Vale were beaten 6-7 (8-10), 6-4, 10-5 (super tie-breaker) by the fourth-seeded combination of Chinese Taipei's Yu Hsiou and China's Lingxi Zhau.

Reynolds' Bay-based coach Simon Winter said Reynolds, who started the open with a world ranking of 104, would initially have felt disappointed.

"But he will wake up next week and realise he made the final of his first slam and he will be fine. The first Kiwi junior to make a grand slam final in 24 years is the key stat. And the fact he did it from little old Hawke's Bay makes it more impressive."

Winter agreed fewer errors from Hsiou and Zhau in the super tie-breaker proved to be the difference.

"It's always knife-edge stuff in a super tie-breaker. I'm picking Finn's world ranking will sky rocket after this week ... possibly into the top 50," Winter added.

Reynolds uncle and long-time sponsor John Penny, who made a second trip from Hawke's Bay back to Melbourne for the final, said it was worth it.

"It was very tight tennis and Finn and Durate played well. But their opponents pulled it together at the end and served very well in the super tie-breaker."

Vale who has a world ranking of 16 and left-hander Reynolds recovered from a 3-0 deficit to win the first set 10-8 in a tie-breaker. Hsiou and Zhau capitalised on an early 3-1 lead in the second set which they won 6-4.

Reynolds is the first Kiwi player to appear in a junior boys' grand slam final since Wimbledon 1993 when Steven Downs and James Greenhalgh combined together to win the title. Vale and Reynolds qualified for the final with a 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-3) win against the top seeds Toru Horie and Yibing Wu, of Japan, on Thursday.

Reynolds, who has won national under-14 and under-16 doubles and singles titles, is no stranger to success on the international stage. Earlier this summer he won singles and doubles titles at the Sarawak Cup in Kuching, Malaysia.