Madrid, Spain, 26 April 2024 | Matt Trollope
Max Purcell has joined countrymen Alex de Minaur and Jordan Thompson in the second round of the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid after a taut three-set victory over Marcos Giron.
The Aussie rebounded from the loss of the first set to complete a 4-6 6-4 7-6(2) triumph.
Purcell saved a break point when serving at 5-5 in the third set, and missed a match point when receiving at 5-6, but dominated the ensuing tiebreak to set up a meeting with Australian Open 2023 quarterfinalist Sebastian Korda, the 25th seed.
Korda won their only previous meeting four years ago on the ATP Challenger tour.
Fellow Aussie Christopher O’Connell bowed out in the first round to Italian Matteo Arnaldi.
In the second round, De Minaur again faces Rafael Nadal, after beating the King of Clay just last week in Barcelona. Nadal set up the rematch with a commanding 6-1 6-0 over 16-year-old American wildcard Darwin Blanch.
Thompson takes on Pavel Kotov, while in the concurrent women’s event, Daria Saville faces 20th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for a place in the third round.
Aussies in action – Madrid
RESULTS
Men’s singles, first round
Max Purcell (AUS) d Marcos Giron (USA) 4-6 6-4 7-6(2)
Matteo Arnaldi (ITA) d Christopher O’Connell (AUS) 6-4 6-1
COMING UP
Men’s singles, second round
[10] Alex de Minaur (AUS) v Rafael Nadal (ESP)
[32] Jordan Thompson (AUS) v Pavel Kotov
Max Purcell (AUS) v [25] Sebastian Korda (USA)
Women’s singles, second round
[LL] Daria Saville (AUS) v [20] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Women’s doubles, first round
[2] Ellen Perez (AUS)/Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/Anastasia Potapova
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