A career-best run at Wimbledon is thrusting the quiet-achieving Chris O’Connell into the spotlight.
London, Great Britain, 7 July 2023 | Leigh Rogers
Chris O’Connell’s profile might not be as prevalent as many of his Australian peers, but he’s proving one to watch at the All England Club this year.
The unassuming world No.73 is through to the third round in the Wimbledon 2023 gentlemen’s singles competition.
The 29-year-old from Sydney continued his impressive march through the draw with a convincing 6-3 7-5 6-4 second-round victory today against Czech Jiri Vesely.
Vesely is a talented grass-court player, who has twice advanced to Wimbledon’s fourth round. But it was O’Connell, who had never won a main-draw match at the tournament before this week, who was able to dictate play.
His growing confidence was evident in a two-hour and six-minute encounter, where he struck 36 winners and committed just 15 unforced errors.
This matches O’Connell’s career-best result at Grand Slam level, having also made the Australian Open third round in 2022 as a wildcard.
It also continues a stunning season for O’Connell, who has advanced to five tour-level quarterfinals, across three different surfaces.
His consistency has been rewarded in the ATP Tour rankings, peaking at a career-high world No.70 last month.
This breakout season follows years of toil for O’Connell, who dealt with numerous injury setbacks early in his career.
Five years ago he was unranked and cleaning boats in Sydney to earn money while sidelined with a knee injury.
Last year he made a considered decision to skip contesting qualifying at Wimbledon, where ranking points weren’t being rewarded.
Instead, he played hard-court events on the secondary tour in Spain and Portugal, a move he hoped would help him achieve his long-held dream of breaking into the world’s top 100 sooner.
O’Connell’s perseverance is certainly paying off now, with a maiden Grand Slam fourth-round appearance in reach.
His next opponent is yet to be decided, but will be either British No.1 Cameron Norrie or American Christopher Eubanks.
Alex de Minaur’s campaign ended in the second round, with 2021 finalist Matteo Berrettini powering to a straight-sets victory against the Australian No.1.
Aussies in action – Wimbledon
RESULTS
Gentlemen’s singles, second round
Chris O’Connell (AUS) d Jiri Vesley (CZE) 6-3 7-5 6-4
Matteo Berrettini (ITA) d [15] Alex de Minaur (AUS) 6-3 6-4…
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