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It was a quiet week for Aussie tennis, as players either prepared for the US Open next week, or returned home for the Pro Tour at the end of September.
ATP
Just one event was held, the ATP Masters in Cincinnati.
Thanasi Kokkinakis qualified via two tough matches. In Round 1 things got heated between Kokkinakis and Ryan Harrison, with the American wanting to knock the teenager out. Thankfully common sense prevailed.
Kokkinakis joined Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic in the main draw. Kyrgios lost to Richard Gasquet in straight sets in the opening round, while Tomic made the second round before suffering a sixth career loss to Alexandr Dolgopolov.
Kokkinakis joined Tomic in the second round but also fell to Richard Gasquet in straight sets.
WTA
The women were also in Cincinnati, for a WTA Premier 5 event, with three Aussies in the main draw.
Casey Dellacqua and Sam Stosur lost in the opening round, but Daria Gavrilova continued her fantastic year with a big win over Sara Errani. Her run ended in the second round, with a 6-4 6-1 loss to Karin Knapp.
Dellacqua made the final in the doubles with partner Yaroslava Shvedova, but lost in straight sets. Still, the pair are on course to qualify for the year-end championships in Singapore.
ATP Challenger
Challengers held in Cordenons (Italy), Meerbusch (Germany), and Vancouver (Canada).
Rameez Junaid was the sole Australian in the European Challengers. He and Dustin Brown won the Meerbusch doubles final in straight sets, for Junaid’s second title of 2015, 22nd Challenger title in doubles, and 33rd title overall.
#atp Here is Junaid and his partner Dustin Brown, with their trophies, after the win at the Meerbusch Challenger. pic.twitter.com/SjIxPHr82i
— Shane Jones (@TennisResultsAu) August 24, 2015
Seven Aussies were in action in Vancouver, with three playing in the main draw.
John Millman’s run in Challenger events, which was 10 heading into last week, ended at 11, as he was defeated by Karen Khachanov.
Matt Ebden retired in the first round.
John-Patrick Smith had impressive wins over Alejandro Gonzalez and Jurgen Melzer to make his second Challenger final for the year, but he then suffered straight-sets loss to Dudi Sela.
The final result moved his ranking to a career-high 121.
ITF
There was more doubles success on the ITF circuit, with Priscilla Hon and teammate Jil Teichman winning their fourth doubles title for the year at the 15,000 Leipzig event in Germany.
#itf Here is Hon, and her partner, with their trophies after the win in Germany. Well done to her. pic.twitter.com/6PS5BTF8AX
— Shane Jones (@TennisResultsAu) August 25, 2015
At Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt, Sara Tomic made her fourth final for the year, but was defeated in three tough sets.
In other results Dane Propoggia and Brad Mousley made the semi-finals at the ITF events in Chinese Taipei and Turkey respectively.
Rankings
Bernard Tomic remains at 24 in the world, to stay as the Aussie number 1.
Thanasi Kokkinakis moves to 70, up nine spots, with his second-round performance in Cincinnati.
John-Patrick Smith is up to 121, with his performance in Vancouver.
Jordan Thompson has moved up to 193 in the world, cracking the top 200 for the first time, after his two title wins in Thailand.
Sam Stosur remains the highest Aussie woman, but falls outside of the top 20 to be 22 in the world.
Sara Tomic cracks the top 500 for the first time in her career after her impressive run in Egypt.
This week
The ATP heads to Winston Salem with the WTA playing in New Haven.
US Open qualifying has also begun, with two Aussies left in the draw at time of writing.
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