Australian Open 2012 live stream

For Australian No.2 Matt Ebden, life on a tennis court doesn't much get much better than playing at the Australian Open.

One of his playing highlights so far was his first round match at Australian Open 2010, where he drew the then No.12-ranked Frenchman and pushed him to three tight sets on Margaret Court Arena. Although he fell, it came after he won through three rounds of qualifying to earn his spot in the main draw, indicating that he could hold his place among the more established and experienced players on the ATP tour.

“I love to play in front of people and try to show them what I can do, and he (Gael Monfils) has been No.7 in the world, so to play a top 10 player with a packed-out Aussie crowd all cheering for you … that’s why we play tennis. Obviously it’s nice to play those matches but I’m looking to hopefully put together a few wins this time and go a bit deeper into the tournament,” he says.

The South-African born Australian enjoyed some solid results in the first three quarters of 2011, qualifying for ATP events in Brisbane, Indian Wells, Queen’s Club, Washington and Tokyo and improving his ranking almost 80 spots after beginning the year around the 200 mark. But it was his stellar run at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Shanghai late in the year that grabbed everybody’s attention.

There, he qualified for the main draw before slashing his way through to the quarterfinals, defeating three higher-ranked players on the way including world No.12 Gilles Simon. The result vaulted him inside the world’s top 80 and made him the No.2 ranked Australian behind 2011 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Bernard Tomic.

However, revealing an intense drive and competitiveness, Ebden admits that he fell short of his own expectations in what was a breakthrough year on tour.

“For me it’s been about halving my ranking the last few years and little goals similar to that. I guess from that point of view I did well at least to finish at around the 80 mark. I was hoping to push up maybe 20 or 30 spots (higher) by the end of the year but that didn’t quite happen,” he says.

“It’s probably the most important jump in tennis to make from out the 100s to get well inside it, and so that was a nice feeling, a nice hurdle to overcome. But now my career sort of starts … The extra hard work is going to come, and I really hope to sort of let go and have a great career from now.”

The Monfils match of 2010 gave Ebden a clear idea of what was required to compete with the players at the top of the sport, and since then he and his team have set about building all areas of his game to pave his way to the very elite level.

This has involved improvements to his stroke production, movement and fitness, mental approach and professionalism, all of which Ebden cites as reasons for the significant leap forward he has made in recent months.

“It really has been a process of continually improving things and becoming a better player. (Becoming) fitter, stronger and just continually working on things that I’ve needed to,” he explains.

“I needed to make quite a few more things happen, I needed to have a bit more of a winning game, an aggressive game, and I’ve been able to make that happen, And I’ll continue to try and improve on that.”

It’s an outcome that stands Ebden in good stead entering 2012 – for the first time, he will qualify for the Australian Open main draw on the strength of his own ranking. The alternative is slugging it out in the qualifying rounds or relying on a wildcard, both routes which the Western Australian has taken in previous campaigns.

While Ebden believes qualifying for the tournament in itself is a great achievement – something he did so successfully in 2010 – he says nothing beats the atmosphere generated in main draw matches.

“It (qualifying) can’t really compare to the packed crowds and stands in the main event, so that’s something that’s always very inspirational and so fun to play in front of, and it’s very motivating, it gets you going,” he says.

“It (the Australian Open) is the first (Grand Slam) I’ve started with and started having wins at, and (being) in Australia I don’t think anything can quite beat it … We (Australian players) are very fortunate to have our own Slam.

“It’s probably a bit nicer to just start fresh in the main draw, and if I can put together a few big results hopefully I can get a few matches there.”

Some wins at Melbourne Park would set Ebden in the right direction toward achieving his goals of 2012, chief among them being a ATP World Tour singles title.

The 24-year-old is also looking forward to a full year of Grand Slam main draw play, with any deep runs helping him to boost his ranking even further.

Should his career continue to flourish, Ebden says he does not imagine he will be affected by the expectation and pressure that inevitably accompanies a successful player in a country where top level players are thin on the ground.

“As long as I’m having fun, enjoying my journey, putting my best on the park each time and striving for my potential, I will be happy with however it turns out, and I’m obviously going to be really challenging myself,” he says.

“I’m just enjoying the tour. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, I’ve always dreamed of being a top-class tour player, so I’m very happy with where things are at.”