Aleksandar Vukic saves match point to deny second seed Sebastian Ofner at Marrakech ATP 250 event.
Marrakech, Morocco, 5 April 2024 | Dan Imhoff
Marrakech, Morocco
Before arriving at Marrakech this week, Aleksandar Vukic had never won a tour-level match on clay.
On Thursday, he won his second straight after surviving a near-three-hour tussle against No.2 seed Sebastian Ofner for his maiden clay-court quarterfinal.
The 27-year-old Australian backed up his win over last year’s runner-up Alexandre Muller 7-6(11) 2-6 7-6(7) to set a quarterfinal showdown with seventh seed Mariano Navone of Argentina.
Ranked 20 places lower, world No.67 Vukic shone in a nailbiting deciding tiebreak when he saved a match point and converted on his third for his fourth career quarterfinal.
Aussies in action – Marrakech
RESULTS
Men’s singles, second round
Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) d [2] Sebastian Ofner (AUT) 7-6(11) 2-6 7-6(7)
COMING UP
Men’s singles, quarterfinals
Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) v [7] Mariano Navone (ARG)
Charleston, USA
Astra Sharma’s bid for a first tour-level quarterfinal in almost two years has fallen short after succumbing to Greek third seed Maria Sakkari 6-4 6-1 at the WTA 500 event at Charleston.
The 135th-ranked lucky loser, who won her sole tour title at a Charleston WTA 250 event in 2021, was unable to back up her upset of 16th seed Lesia Tsurenko.
Qualifier Daria Saville’s hopes of reaching the third round are also over after falling to seventh seed Elina Svitolina.
In their first clash in almost five years, Ukrainian world No.17 Svitolina extended her record against the 108th-ranked Australian to 8-2 following the 6-2 6-4 victory.
Aussies in action – Charleston
RESULTS
Women’s singles, third round
[3] Maria Sakkari (GRE) d [LL] Astra Sharma (AUS)
Women’s singles, second round
[7] Elina Svitolina (UKR) d [Q] Daria Saville (AUS)
Women’s doubles, quarterfinals
[1] Ellen Perez (AUS)/Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) d Magda Linette (POL)/Zhang Shuai (CHN) 6-2 6-0
COMING UP
Women’s doubles, semifinals
[1] Ellen Perez (AUS)/Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) v Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR)/Nadia Kichenok (UKR)
Houston, USA
James Duckworth and Max Purcell have bowed out in their second-round encounters at Houston, falling to Americans – defending champion Frances Tiafoe and wild card Michael Mmoh – respectively.
Tiafoe improved his record against the 105th-ranked Duckworth to 2-1 for his third straight Houston quarterfinal…
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