‘Strength in numbers’ is a feature of the Australian contingent as the countdown to Australian Open 2024 begins in earnest.
As it currently stands, there are nine Australian men inside the top 100, a position in the rankings which typically ensures direct entry to a Grand Slam tournament.
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On the women’s side, Australia saw a new top-100 player in Kimberly Birrell, the doubles world No.2 in Storm Hunter, and two others – Daria Saville and Ajla Tomljanovic – making encouraging progress in their return from serious injuries.
Men on the march
Throughout 2023, Aussie men have achieved regular milestones and breakthroughs in what has been an extraordinary year for the green-and-gold on the men’s professional tour.
“We’re looking forward to seeing our fantastic group of Aussie men step into the spotlight this summer, led by ‘the Demon’ Alex de Minaur, currently at a career-high ranking of No.11,” said Craig Tiley, Australian Open Tournament Director.
“It’s always exciting to see our own players do well at the AO and along with Alex, the fans will be keeping a close eye on Max Purcell, Alexei Popyrin, Aleksandar Vukic, Chris O’Connell, Jordan Thompson, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler.”
De Minaur’s ascent to the brink of the top 10 was helped by his August trip to the Toronto final, his best-ever result at Masters 1000 level. Earlier in the year he won his first 500-level title in Acapulco and reached the Queen’s final, another 500 tournament.
While De Minaur is an Aussie leader with four ATP finals this season, he is not the only one reaching the pointy end of ATP tournaments in 2023.
Thompson advanced to the ‘s-Hertogenbosch final on grass in June, a month before Popyrin won the ATP clay-court title in Umag, Croatia. The same week, Vukic won through to the Atlanta final on hard courts.
ATP Masters 1000 breakthroughs
Popyrin’s success was not restricted to Umag, with the Aussie also succeeding on the clay courts of the Rome Masters.
As a qualifier, he advanced to the last 16, in what was then his best result at an ATP Masters 1000 event. That was until Cincinnati, where he went all the way to the quarterfinals.
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There he was joined by Purcell, who beat Casper Ruud and Stan Wawrinka en route to his first ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal, where he stretched then-world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz to three sets.
It marked the first time in 21 years that two Aussies had appeared in the quarterfinals of the same ATP Masters tournament.
The week prior was when De Minaur made his run to the Toronto final, a result pushing him up to a then-best ranking of world No.12.
Also in Toronto, Vukic advanced to the last 16, thanks to wins over Borna Coric and Sebastian Korda.
Ranking milestones
Results such as these have seen several Aussies notch career-high rankings this year.
Vukic’s stellar North American summer saw the 27-year-old make his top 50 debut; he peaked at world No.48 in August. Purcell climbed even higher, setting a career-best ranking of 41st to become the second-ranked Aussie behind De Minaur.
Popyrin briefly cracked the top 40 in August and currently sits at world No.43.
Just below them is O’Connell, whose six ATP quarterfinals so far in 2023 put him on the verge of a top-50 debut in September.
This month, Kokkinakis equalled his career-best ranking of 69th, first attained back in 2015 when he was a teenager.
Kubler also achieved a career-high this season, ascending to world No.63 in April shortly after reaching the third round at Indian Wells and the quarterfinals in Houston.
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Hijikata rose to world No.72 in September after beginning the year outside the top 150.
Also cracking the top 100 was Birrell, who began the season at world No.173 but climbed to 100th in September after winning almost 40 matches in 2023.
Aussie youngster Olivia Gadecki is on track to emulate Birrell; this year the 21-year-old rose from outside the top 200 to a peak of No.131.
Doubles delight
The rise of Hijikata and Kubler in singles could be connected to their incredible success in doubles. At Australian Open 2023 they became Grand Slam champions with an unforgettable run to their home title.
Hunter came extremely close to matching their Slam success, advancing to the Wimbledon women’s doubles final with Belgian Elise Mertens.
It was one of several impressive doubles results for Hunter in 2023, a season in which she set a career-high ranking of world No.2, won the Rome and Guadalajara WTA 1000 crowns, and qualified for the WTA Finals.
With her rise to world No.2, Storm Hunter becomes the highest-ranked Australian female doubles player in 16 years 🙌#GoAussies https://t.co/9cQ7WxI9lx
— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) September 25, 2023
Hunter’s compatriot Ellen Perez is also in the running to appear at the WTA Finals; she cracked the doubles top 10 earlier this year and currently sits in sixth place in the Race to Cancun with American partner Nicole Melichar-Martinez.
Another Aussie top-10 doubles star is Matt Ebden, who hit world No.8 after winning the Indian Wells Masters and reaching the final of the US Open and Madrid Masters – all with Indian Rohan Bopanna.
Grand Slam success
Hijikata’s rise was also accelerated by his run to the fourth round of the US Open – by far the best Grand Slam result of the 22-year-old’s career.
It saw him join De Minaur, whose appearance in the last 16 in New York came after he reached the same stage at Australian Open 2023.
AO 2023 was where Popyrin upset fifth seed Taylor Fritz to progress to the third round, kick-starting his career-best year.
Four months later at Roland Garros, Kokkinakis completed a thrilling five-set win over Stan Wawrinka to appear in the third round – equalling his best Slam result.
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The third round was the same stage O’Connell reached at Wimbledon.
Heath Davidson also enjoyed a career-best season at Grand Slam level, with a first quad wheelchair singles final appearance at Wimbledon.
These are all strong showings the big Aussie contingent will be hoping to better at Australian Open 2024.