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Australian players Destanee Aiava, Olivia Gadecki and Ivana Popovic all won titles this week.
Australia, 20 August 2023 | Leigh Rogers
Several Australian players rewrote history with extraordinary performances in the past week.
Ellen Perez became the first Australian woman in 50 years to reach back-to-back doubles finals at Cincinnati, a feat last achieved by Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
Max Purcell and Alexei Popyrin charged into the men’s singles quarterfinals at Cincinnati, marking the first time in 21 years that two Aussie men had reached this stage at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament. Lleyton Hewitt and Wayne Arthurs were the last to do so, also at Cincinnati, in 2002.
Olivia Gadecki, Destanee Aiava and Ivana Popovic all claimed titles too in an impressive week for Australian women.
At junior level, Pavle Marinkov won the biggest singles title of his career at an ITF J200 tournament in Sydney. Aussie talents Charlie Camus, Ashlee Narker and Alice Stevens were crowned doubles champions.
This week’s most outstanding performers include:
Ellen Perez: The 27-year-old and American partner Nicole Melichar-Martinez became the first team in the Open era to reach back-to-back women’s doubles finals at the WTA 1000 tournament in Cincinnati (USA). They finished runners-up for the second year in a row.
Max Purcell: A first top-10 win, beating world No.7 Casper Ruud, was a highlight in a breakout week for Purcell. The 25-year-old enjoyed a career-best run at ATP Masters 1000 level, advancing to the Cincinnati singles quarterfinals, where he extended world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz to three sets.
Alexei Popyrin: The 24-year-old took advantage of a lucky-loser spot at Cincinnati, progressing to the singles quarterfinals. This was Popyrin’s career-best result at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
John Peers: The 35-year-old recorded his best result of the season at ATP Masters 1000 level, advancing to the doubles quarterfinals with Croatia’s Nikola Mektic. This was Peers’ best performance in Cincinnati since 2019.
Storm Hunter: The 29-year-old enjoyed a career-best run in the doubles competition at Cincinnati, reaching the semifinals alongside Belgian partner Elise Mertens. Hunter has now made the semifinals or better in six of her past seven tournaments.
Olivia Gadecki: The 21-year-old claimed the biggest doubles title of her career at a WTA 125 tournament at Stanford (USA) with British partner Jodie Burrage. This is Gadecki’s eighth career doubles title (all won with different partners) and third this season.
John-Patrick Smith: The 34-year-old teamed with American Robert Galloway to reach the doubles semifinals at an ATP Challenger in Stanford (USA). This was Smith’s eighth semifinal appearance this season.
James Duckworth: The 31-year-old made the singles quarterfinals at the ATP Challenger tournament in Stanford. This was Duckworth’s sixth ATP Challenger quarterfinal appearance of the season.
Andrew Harris: The 29-year-old advanced to the doubles semifinals at an ATP Challenger in Winnipeg (Canada) alongside American partner Christian Harrison. This was Harris’ eighth semifinal appearance of the season.
Daria Saville: The 29-year-old advanced to the singles quarterfinals at a WTA 125 tournament at Barranquilla (Colombia). Saville, who returned to the tour in June after a nine-month injury lay-off, has now won six of her past nine singles matches.
Destanee Aiava: The 23-year-old scooped the singles and doubles titles at an ITF 25 tournament in Aldershot (Great Britain). It is Aiava’s sixth career ITF singles title and first won on international soil since April 2018. She teamed with Brit Sarah Beth Grey to claim her third doubles title of the season.
Ivana Popovic: The 22-year-old won the doubles title at an ITF 25 tournament in Vrnjacka Banja (Serbia) with Serbian
Blake Mott: The 27-year-old was a singles finalist at an ITF 25 tournament in Jakarta (Indonesia), where he lost to Swede Leo Borg (the son of former world No.1 Bjorn Borg). It was Mott’s first ITF singles final appearance since September 2019 and his first outside of Australia since August 2014.
Pavle Marinkov: The 17-year-old won the biggest ITF singles title of his junior career, scoring a three-set win over compatriot Charlie Camus in an all-Australian final at an ITF J200 tournament in Sydney.
> READ: Pavle Marinkov – A rising star of Australian tennis
Charlie Camus: The 16-year-old was a singles finalist at the ITF J200 tournament in Sydney and teamed with New Zealand’s Harry Pugh to win the doubles title. It is Camus’ third junior doubles title of the season.
Giselle Guillen: After reaching the biggest singles final of her junior career, the 15-year-old finished runner-up at the ITF J200 tournament in Sydney.
Ashlee Narker and Alice Stevens: The Aussie duo won the doubles title at the ITF J200 tournament in Sydney. It is 17-year-old Narker’s first ITF junior doubles title and 15-year-old Stevens’ third.
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