At his first match at the Kooyong exhibition, Richard defeated Jordan Thompson 7-5 2-6 7-6.
The young Australian who replaced Lleyton Hewitt at short notice made Richard work hard for the first set, winnng it 7-5. Thompson served well and fast, while Richard still looked hampered by his Doha injury and had to concede two breaks in the second set.The Aussie alo went up a break in the third set, but Richard got it back straight away. Another break for Thompson and he served for the match, but missed two match points. Richard came back and took the match into a tiebreak in which he finally prevailed. He will play the winner of Wawrinka-Simon next.
