Tristan Schoolkate has produced a statement victory at the ATP Toronto Masters 1000 event on Tuesday (AEST) over fast-rising Brazilian Joao Fonseca 7-6(5) 6-4.
Schoolkate is one of three Australians who won on Day 3 in Toronto, with Aleksandar Vukic and Chris O'Connell also recording wins.
They join Alex de Minaur, Alexei Popyrin, Adam Walton and James Duckworth in the second round, marking the first time seven Australian men have achieved this feat since 1988.
> MORE: Popyrin to defend Canadian crown in Toronto
The West Australian was sharper on the receiving end than Fonseca, winning 25 points on return to the Brazilian's 14, booking a date with Italian Matteo Arnaldi.
"I'm very happy with the result today. I thought I played a good match and made it pretty tricky for Joao," he said. "He's a very established player, and he's so young. Even when his age (18) flashed up on the board, I was still a bit like, 'here we go'.
"I'm just happy with the way I played and look forward to the next one."
Competing in the middle of the day in Toronto, the conditions differed from playing under the night sky in Los Cabos two weeks ago. However, they better suited Schoolkate's game. The 24-year-old adjusted perfectly to secure his second career Masters 1000 triumph.
"[The court] is very quick here," said Schoolkate, who reached his first ATP quarterfinal in Los Cabos. "There's not too many tournaments nowadays, I think, where the conditions are this fast.
> READ: Aussie trio into Los Cabos quarterfinals
"My last tournament was Los Cabos, and that was very slow and bouncy. Obviously playing in the evening, too, it's a very different ball game. I think the conditions suit the way I play. I serve big, and I try to get forward and make it a bit uncomfortable for the opponent, and I think that showed today."
Schoolkate moves to world No.98 in the live ATP rankings, in what shapes as his top 100 debut.
"I had a look this morning [at the live rankings], my coach did too, and I think there must be a bug in the system, but my name is not even on the live rankings," he joked. "So I thought, well, I've either dropped a lot of points, or I've got a lot of points.
"It's obviously a goal of mine to be in the top 100 and playing these tournaments week in, week out. It's where you want to be, and if it's not this week, and it's not next week, then I'll keep pushing hard, and I'm sure it'll be in one of the weeks to come."
Earlier on Tuesday, Vukic claimed his second Masters 1000 victory of the season when he defeated Pedro Martinez 7-5 6-3. Meanwhile, O'Connell wasted no time against Chinese Taipei's Tseng Chun-hsin, closing proceedings in 75 minutes.
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