Dellavedova into 2nd round of juniors

The other Matthew Dellavedova has more motivation than most other aspiring tennis stars to make it to the top.

The 16-year-old Victorian is looking forward to the day when he enters his name in Google and isn’t just inundated with stories and photos of the Milwaukee Bucks and Australian Boomers star.

The two Matthew Dellavedovas are second cousins, although they’ve never met.

But after beating Ien Schouten from the Netherlands 6-3 3-6 6-2 in the opening round of the Australian Open boys’ singles on Sunday, Dellavedova revealed he shared at least one trait with his more famous namesake.

“I love the fight and the competition (of tennis),” he said.

“Going out there, it’s just two guys, it’s a bit like boxing where it’s one on one and you’re out there completely by yourself.

“I’ve always been very competitive.”

Those words could just as easily have been uttered by the basketballer, who won high praise from his former Cleveland teammate LeBron James after the Cavaliers won last year’s NBA crown.

“That’s a guy who’s dedicated, who never cared about guys saying ‘Delly’s not fast enough, Delly’s not strong enough, Delly can’t shoot it well enough, Delly’s not an NBA player.’,” said James.

“Well guess what? Delly’s a champion.”

Dellavedova the tennis player also answers to the moniker Delly.

Now he can hardly wait to make a sporting name for himself.

“I don’t actually follow basketball but I’ve got more interest in it purely because he’s playing,” he said at Melbourne Park on Sunday.

“It’s pretty cool that we’re related … half the people don’t believe me when I say I’m related to him – that’s mostly how conversations start.”

The tennis player is coached by his father Peter, who is the first cousin of Mark Dellavedova, the NBA star’s dad.

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