On the main ATP tour, it was Davis Cup break. The Australian’s lost to Austria on clay in Austria in a world group playoff. That now means the team won’t be seeded as we enter new territory in the revamped Davis Cup in 2019.
The highlight of the week was the ATP Challenger title won by James Duckworth, the 12th different Australian to win a Challenger title in 2018. Duckworth went through qualifying to go on and win the $50,000+H title. That amounted to eight matches for Duckworth who entered the tournament ranked at 418. The title gave him a rankings boost of 129 places and he now sits at 289 as he continues his return from injury.
Results from the week are shown below.
Women’s WTA
Hiroshima, Japan $250,000
Arina Rodionova [Q] lost to Tamara Zidansek SLO 6-2, 6-4.
Ajla Tomljanovic [5] d Fiona Ferro FRA 6-4, 6-1. R2 d Zhu Lin 7-5, 6-4. QF lost to Su-Wei Hsieh 4-6, 6-2, 6-0.
Men’s ATP Challenger
Shanghai, China $75,000
Akira Santillan lost to Uladzimir Ignatik BLR 7-6(6), 6-3.
Max Purcell d Maximillian Neuchrist AUT 6-4, 6-4. R2 lost to Alexander Bublik KAZ 7-6(5), 6-3.
Dayne Kelly [Q] lost to Miomir Kecmanovic SRB 4-6, 7-6(8), 6-2.
Cary, USA
James Duckworth [Q] d Kevin King 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. R2 d Evan Song 6-3, 7-6(4). QF d Joris De Loore 6-3, 7-6(3). SF d Bjorn Fratangelo [5] USA 6-3, 6-4. Final d Reilly Opelka USA 7-6(4), 6-3.
Alexei Popyrin d JC Aragone USA 6-3, 6-4. R2 lost to Dominik Koepfer 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-6(3).
Maverick Banes lost to Evan King 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
Andrew Harris lost to William Blumberg 6-7(5), 6-3, 0-0 Retired
