Priscilla Hon, Aleksandar Vukic and Olivia Gadecki are among 11 Australian players set to contest the Roland Garros 2023 singles qualifying competitions.
Paris, France, 21 May 2023 | Leigh Rogers
The men’s and women’s qualifying singles draws are set for Roland Garros 2023.
James Duckworth is the highest-ranked Australian in the men’s qualifying singles field. The world No.106 is the fifth seed and begins his qualifying quest against Italian Riccardo Bonadio.
Duckworth has qualified twice before in Paris, in 2013 and 2014.
In-form Aleksandar Vukic is also seeded. The 27-year-old, who has won 18 of his past 23 matches, faces Belgium’s Raphael Collignon in the opening round.
Vukic is aiming to qualify at Roland Garros for a second time, having previously done so in 2020.
Marc Polmans has got to close to qualifying at the clay-court major before, advancing to the final round in 2020 and 2021. The 26-year-old has been pitted against French wildcard Harold Mayot.
Rinky Hijikata and Li Tu are competing at Roland Garros for the first time, while Alex Bolt has used a protected ranking of world No.203 to enter.
The 30-year-old Bolt, who was sidelined for six months last season following elbow surgery, has drawn Ukrainian Oleksii Krutykh in the first round.
| Roland Garros 2023 Men’s qualifying singles, first round |
||||
| Player | Rank | Player | Rank | |
| [5] James Duckworth (AUS) | 106 | v | Riccardo Bonadio (ITA) | 168 |
| [18] Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) | 127 | v | Raphael Collignon (BEL) | 217 |
| [29] Rinky Hijikata (AUS) | 139 | v | Thiago Agustin Tirante (ARG) | 150 |
| Marc Polmans (AUS) | 192 | v | [WC] Harold Mayot (FRA) | 196 |
| Li Tu (AUS) | 241 | v | [25] Fabian Marozsan (HUN) | 135 |
| Alex Bolt (AUS) | 378 | v | Oleksii Krutykh (UKR) | 177 |
> VIEW: Full Roland Garros 2023 men’s qualifying singles draw
Olivia Gadecki and Jaimee Fourlis lead the Australian charge in the women’s qualifying singles competition.
The 21-year-old Gadecki, making her third appearance in Roland Garros qualifying, begins her campaign against Latvian Darja Semenistaja.
The 23-year-old Fourlis, who advanced to the biggest singles final of her career at an ITF tournament in Germany earlier this month, meets 17-year-old Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, a former world No.1-ranked junior.
Storm Hunter is looking to emulate her successful qualifying campaign in 2021. The 28-year-old has drawn Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic, a former world No.35 and Wimbledon quarterfinalist, in the opening round.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Tennis.com.au – Tennis Australia…