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There is no shortage of admiration for the Aussies on the court at the Australian Open, with numerous stars making a name for themselves.
Alexei Popryin took the challenge to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in his clash on Wednesday night at Rod Laver Arena.
The World No. 43 took one set from the 10-time Australian Open champion, something only one other Australian – Lleyton Hewitt, has managed to do.
In the end, Djokovic triumphed 6-3 4-6 7-6 (4) 6-2 over Popryin after saving four set points in the third set.
Phillips told Sports Breakfast he liked Popryin’s grit but ultimately Djokovic’s class prevailed.
“There's been many times he's been two sets to one Djokovic, and he just hits the reset button and gets the game so swiftly back on his terms with an early break of serve in the next set.
“There's a lot to contend with knowing you're up against arguably the greatest on his home court at the Australian Open and Popryin showed signs.
“The aim this year has got to be inside the top 30, maybe top 20. He's got a solid team. They've been with him there for twelve months.
“There's a bit of grit about Popryin that I like. They'd sort of blended in with his effortless power and he's serving, he's a beautiful timer of the ball, but with a bit of grit out in the court, which I'm starting to really like about ‘Popper.’”
While Popryin is out, fellow Australians Alex De Minaur and Storm Hunter have advanced to the third round of the Open.
The men’s world No. 10 has continued his stellar run of form, taking out Matteo Arnaldi in a 6-3 6-0 6-3 victory.
Phillips called the win an “absolute whitewash” as De Minaur delivered dished up his revenge against Arnaldi for last year’s Davis Cup final defeat.
“It just showed the benefit of the two extra years he's had on the tour,” said Phillips.
“As John Fitzgerald said yesterday, you'd buy some shares in Arnaldi, he's going places but he's two years behind in his development, playing on those bigger stages.
“De Minaur, there's a real surety about his game. I think it's giving us all confidence but most importantly it's giving him the self-confidence.”
In the Women’s singles, Storm Hunter celebrated a personal Grand Slam milestone as she advanced to the third round for the singles draw first time.
The WA product, ranked world No.180, battled Laura Siegemund at John Cain Arena, coming out on top 6-4 3-6 6-3 in a tough tussle.
This was the first time the two had clashed on the singles court, both being top-ranked doubles players.
Phillips says it’s a fantastic opportunity for her, and will be fascinating to see what direction she takes moving ahead.
“She set herself up better financially through her great exploits in doubles, reaching world number one and the tournament she's won courtesy of qualifying and getting through two rounds.
“She's jumped up 53 live ranking spots to 127 now. So I think Storm, when it's all said and done, it wouldn't rest easy with her if she never made the top 100 in singles.
“She's going to have to probably look at that as maybe being the priority for this year because what happens is she goes deep into these doubles tournaments, which prevents her from getting to the next tournament to get into qualifying.
“She's got the singles game, there's no doubt… Storm's playing good tennis and she's been our best-performed player at the Billie Jean King Cup the last three years of any of our girls.”
IMAGE: Sporting News