Australian Aleksandar Vukic is through to the second round in singles at an ATP 250 tournament in France this week.

Lyon, France, 20 May 2024 | Leigh Rogers

Lyon, France

Aleksandar Vukic has scored one of the biggest clay-court wins of his career in a promising start at an ATP 250 tournament in Lyon.

The 28-year-old Australian needed only 75 minutes to carve out a 6-2 6-2 opening-round victory against world No.76 Mackenzie McDonald.

Vukic fired eight aces and conceded only 14 points on serve in a dominant display against the 29-year-old American, who achieved a career-high ranking of world No.37 late last year.

This is Vukic’s biggest ATP main-draw win on European clay and his fourth career top-100 win in total on the surface.

“Very happy,” world No.70 Vukic said of his performance. “I played a very clean match. I thought I was very engaged from the beginning until the end.

“It was a very good match from my end.”

It continues a productive clay-court swing for Vukic, who was a quarterfinalist at an ATP 250 event at Marrakech last month and recently beat former top-10 player Diego Schwartzman at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Rome.

His next challenge is a second-round meeting with world No.17 Alexander Bublik, the tournament’s second seed.

Aussies in action – Lyon

RESULTS
Men’s singles, first round
Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) d Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 6-2 6-2

COMING UP
Men’s singles, second round
Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) v [2] Alexander Bublik (KAZ)

Men’s doubles, first round
John Peers (AUS)/Diego Hidalgo (ECU) v [WC] Jonathan Eysseric (FRA)/Fabrice Martin (FRA)

Strasbourg, France

Daria Saville has fallen at the final hurdle in her quest to qualify at a WTA 500 tournament in Strasbourg this week.

The 30-year-old Australian lost a final qualifying round battle against world No.55 Magdalena Frech, with the Polish player triumphing 3-6 6-4 6-3.

It was a rematch of an Australian Open first-round clash earlier this year, which the 26-year-old Frech also won in a tight three-set encounter.

Saville is a former finalist in Strasbourg, beating compatriot Ash Barty on her way to reaching the 2017 championship match.

Her exit leaves world No.7 doubles star Ellen Perez as the last Australian standing this year.

Aussies in action – Strasbourg

RESULTS
Women’s qualifying singles, final round
[3] Magdalena Frech (POL) d [7] Daria Saville (AUS) 3-6 6-4 6-3

COMING UP
Women’s doubles, first round
[1] Ellen Perez (AUS)/Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) v Leylah Fernandez (CAN)/Erin Routliffe (NZL)

Geneva, Switzerland

Rinky Hijikata is carrying Australian hopes at an ATP 250 clay-court tournament in Geneva this week.

The 23-year-old from Sydney, who is preparing to make his Roland Garros main-draw debut, faces Austrian qualifier Sebastian Ofner in the opening round.

Ofner, currently ranked world No.46, was the top-seeded player in the tournament’s qualifying event.

Aussies in action – Geneva

COMING UP
Men’s singles, first round
Rinky Hijikata (AUS) v [Q] Sebastian Ofner (AUT)

> READ: Fourteen Australians to contest qualifying at Roland Garros 2024

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