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Welcome to what will hopefully be a weekly update on Australians in the ATP, WTA and ITF where we will review the previous week’s results and highlight those who have done well.
We’ll also look at the rankings and take a look at the week ahead.
Let’s start with the ATP.
ATP
Just one event was held as the field went to Rome for the final clay Masters event of the year.
Australia had two players in the main draw, with Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic both defeated in the opening round by Feliciano Lopez and Victor Troicki respectively.
In doubles, Kyrgios broke a 0-7 record on the ATP circuit, as he made the semi-finals with American Jack Sock. They lost to Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez who in turn lost the final.
Nick clearly enjoyed the week with Jack. The duo faced off in the Sarasota Challenger last year.
The bromance taking over @JackSock haha #losingsleep
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) May 17, 2015
WTA
Four Australian women were involved in the women’s event in Rome, which ran alongside the men.
At the Premier Mandatory event, Daria Gavrilova and Ajla Tomljanovic were in qualifying, with Sam Stosur and Jarmila Gajdosova in the main draw. Casey Dellacqua withdrew from the event with a foot injury before she was set to face Victoria Azarenka.
In qualifying, Tomljanovic lost in the final round, with Gavrilova qualifying with a three set win over Silvia Soler-Espinosa. In the main draw, Stosur lost in the first round, with Gajdosova winning an epic three setter against Elena Vesnina, saving seven match points against the Russian.
Her reward was a second round showdown with Maria Sharapova. Unfortunately for Gajdosova – when she was 6-2 3-1 down – she retired with a shoulder injury.
The story of the week came from Gavrilova.
After defeating Belinda Bencic in the opening round, Gavrilova took her second top-10 scalp of the year. The Russian, who is in the process of becoming an Australian, defeated Ana Ivanovic in three sets to make her third round of 16 appearance at a WTA event.
She wasn’t finished there though, as she defeated Timea Bacsinszky and Christina McHale to make her first ever semi-final. Unfortunately she couldn’t defeat Sharapova in the semi, as the Russian went on the win her third title in the Italian event.
ATP Challenger
After an airport fire in Rome, James Duckworth and Thanasi Kokkinakis missed the qualifying draw for the Rome Masters. As a result they were forced to play in the Bordeaux Challenger.
Duckworth, who got in as an alternate, made the second round, with Kokkinakis in qualifying for the event.
After spending the night in the Madrid Airport, see the picture below, the South Australian qualified for event.
.@TKokkinakis is forced to sleep at the Madrid airport, but that's not the worst part… http://t.co/jNvtqdEghn pic.twitter.com/sYcHFVlnrk
— ATP World Tour (@ATPWorldTour) May 8, 2015
What followed was an incredible week.
The Aussie beat Nikoloz Basilashvili, and Kimmer Coppejans, before just getting home against Roberto Carballes Baena in three sets. A win over Jurgen Zopp qualified him into his first final before he defeated Thiemo de Bakker to seal his first ATP Challenger title.
He was forced to wait, as de Bakker saved five match points, but the South Aussie succeeded to take his second professional singles title.
First Challenger Title #Bordeaux #roadtofrench #grind pic.twitter.com/vrXA66BPFg
— Thanasi Kokkinakis (@TKokkinakis) May 18, 2015
Three other Challengers were held during the week, with one in Heilbronn, Samarkand, and Seoul.
In Samarkand, Matt Ebden continued his good month of tennis, with a semi-final appearance in which he lost to Teymuraz Gabashvili in three sets as the Russian took the title.
Ebden has made three straight semi-finals in ATP events and has slashed his ranking by 150 spots in the last month.
In Heilbronn, Jason Kubler was the best Australian, as he made the second round.
Matt Barton was the best in Seoul, making the second round. Unfortunately he was forced to retire in the second set of that match.
ITF
35 Australians competed on the ITF circuit this week over 31 events around the world.
In Croatia, at the F9 future event, 12 Australians competed with 10 in qualifying. Gavin Van Peperzeel was the best in singles on the ITF circuit this week with a semi-final appearance at the Croatian event.
It wasn’t a strong week overall for the Aussies but Queenslander Ryan Agar won the ninth doubles title of his career in Egypt with British partner Joe Salisbury.
Victorian Sally Peers made the final at the 25,000 Raleigh event but fell short at the final hurdle.
Rankings
Kokkinakis moves up 15 spots from 98 to 83 in the world following his win at the Bordeaux Challenger.
Ebden also had a nice gain after making the semi-final in Samarkand, moving to 206.
Finally Jacob Grills moved to up 101 spots to 572 in the world after his future win in Thailand last week. Future events are added to rankings two weeks after the event.
In the women’s side Alison Bai gained 16 spots to 355 in the world.
Gavrilova was the biggest riser on the WTA side as she moved 33 spots to 45 in the world. She is Australia’s third-highest ranked player.
This week
This week is all about the French Open. Plenty of Australians will be involved in qualifying as they try to make the main draw. Keep an eye out on The Roar for a preview of those involved.
In ATP and WTA action there are two events each.
The ATP travel to Geneva and Nice with the WTA in Nurnberg and Strasbourg. In Geneva, Australia is represented by Marinko Matosevic in the main draw, who lost late on Monday night to Albert Ramos.
In Nice, Australia has Sam Groth, Tomic, Kyrgios, and Duckworth in the main draw.
In Strasbourg, Stosur has a wildcard, and has already progressed to Round 2. Tomljanovic is also involved and is in Round 2 as well.
No Aussies are involved in the main draw in Nurnberg.
Just one ATP Challenger is held this week, with Ebden the sole player in Eskisehir. He plays tomorrow.
Be sure to come back here next week for a full wrap of this week’s event.
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