Austen Childs Clinches Davis Cup Win for New Zealand
July 12, 2010 | Men's Tennis
July 12, 2010
The University of Louisville tennis player Austen Childs was impressive in his Davis Cup debut by clinching New Zealand's 3-2 win over Pakistan in the Asia-Oceania group II semifinal on July 11. New Zealand advances to September's zone final against the winner of the Thailand-Indonesia match.
"It was just good to get out there and play and help the team out a little," said Childs. "I was pretty nervous about playing the final match but I played well. I had a good time with the team it was a really good experience playing in front of a big home crowd."
With New Zealand trailing 2-1 going into the third day of competition, their number one player, Jose Statham's win evened the score, placing the match in the hands of Childs, who delivered the decisive point with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Aqeel Khan.
"Austen has been a clutch player for the University of Louisville and we had no doubt he could do the same for his country," said U of L assistant coach Rodrigo daSilva. "We are extremely proud of Austen, he is seeing the results of all his hard work on and off the court"
Childs, a native of Mt. Maunganui, New Zealand, is coming off of a stellar junior campaign in which he finished runner-up in the 2010 NCAA Singles Championship and became U of L's second All-American. The two-time BIG EAST Player of the Year compiled a 33-12 overall record and went 22-5 as the Cards' No. 1 player and ended the season at No. 13 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association singles rankings.
Players Mentioned
