Queenslander Adam Walton was among a trio of Australians to win their opening matches in Almaty, Kazakhstan on Tuesday, while Ajla Tomljanovic was assured of a top-100 return after her first-round win in Ningbo, China.
The 26-year-old Walton withstood 18 aces from fellow Aussie Tristan Schoolkate to prevail 7-6(4) 6-7(3) 6-2 to join New South Welshmen Aleksandar Vukic and Rinky Hijikata in the second round.
Walton dropped serve only once and rattled down 10 aces of his own. The reward for the world No.76 was a meeting with Daniil Medvedev, the No.2 seed, on Thursday.
“Indoor tennis is a bit different for us – we don’t play much on it back home – but I think a lot of Australians actually enjoy it,” Walton said. “So yeah, there’s no reason why we can’t finish the year strong.
“I feel like we all try to stick together. A lot of the Aussies came here last year, so it felt like a good one for me to try out for the first time.”
Australia’s six main draw entrants were the most of any nation at the Kazakhstan tournament.
Vukic said he and his compatriots enjoyed the Almaty welcome and when he looked up at the scores during his 6-4 3-6 6-1 win over Marko Topo, all he could see was their names.
“I finished the match and I saw there were three Aussies on at the same time. There are a lot of Aussies here, we seem to like these conditions and hopefully we can meet each other closer to the finals,” Vukic said.
“We’re actually talking about it and it’s probably one of the better 250s for the year just in terms of the effort they put in, in terms of the food, and how nice everyone is – it’s definitely underrated.”
Lucky loser Hijikata, who took down Timofey Skatov 7-6(3) 2-6 6-3 to set a clash against Flavio Cobolli, was thrilled with his and his countrymen’s success.
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He admitted the travel tended to become a grind for him and his compatriots, who rarely had a chance to return home once they left after the Australian summer each year.
“It can be tough,” he said. “It’s far to get home. It’s not like you can duck back home for a week in the middle of the season. I'm pretty lucky I have a base in North Carolina (USA) where I went to college. My girlfriend lives there and all my coaches and a few of my teammates are still in Chapel Hill training and they always welcome me with open arms, so I'm pretty lucky.”
Hijikata, who took his place in the main draw following Nicolas Jarry’s withdrawal, said the tournament shaped as a great opportunity for some of the Australians.
“It’s exciting, you know? I think Aussie tennis at the moment is looking pretty good. I think a few guys have had a bit of a rough year, but we can all kind of try to finish strong and then make a push before the Aussie summer,” he said.
A fourth Australian, James Duckworth, was due to face the No.7 seed, Gabriel Diallo, on Wednesday.
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Meanwhile, Tomljanovic was headed back into the world’s top 100 after a fine victory over No.5 seed Clara Tauson at the Ningbo WTA 500 event on Tuesday.
The 32-year-old Aussie, who has had another injury-interrupted year, was off the pace in the first set but bounced back to win 1-6 7-6(4) 6-3 in two hours 19 minutes.
Having slipped to world No.105 in recent weeks, she was back at No.90 in the live rankings.
Tauson was clearly in pain in the third set and took a medical timeout for treatment on her back. At 5-3, Tomljanovic took advantage of her second match point to clinch victory and set a meeting with Turkiye’s Zeynep Sonmez.
She has now won three matches in four days in China, including over fellow Aussie Maya Joint in qualifying.
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