Toronto, Canada, 10 August 2023 | Matt Trollope

Toronto, Canada

Rising Australian star Aleksandar Vukic has scored another big win in his breakout American summer, upsetting Sebastian Korda to progress in Toronto.

Vukic, a lucky loser in the main draw, beat the 32nd-ranked American 6-3 4-6 7-6(5) to reach the last 16 at an ATP Masters event for the first time.

Vukic overcame the frustration of failing to convert six break points in the second set, and getting broken when serving for the match at 5-4 in the third, coming back from 0-3 in the subsequent tiebreak to win in two hours.

The 27-year-old is expected to make his top-50 debut, having risen to world No.48 in the ATP live rankings following his triumph.

Vukic, a finalist in Atlanta two weeks ago, improves to 7-3 in this North American summer hard-court swing, and has now won 45 matches overall in 2023. Next up is former top-10 star Gael Monfils.

He joins fellow Aussie Alex de Minaur in the third round, after De Minaur beat local wildcard Gabriel Diallo.

> Watch the Aussies in Toronto on beIN Sports or TennisTV

De Minaur will play for a place in his first ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal when he takes on No.8 seed Taylor Fritz.

De Minaur broke the 21-year-old Diallo late in the first set, and rebounded from 3-1 down in the second, to post a 6-4 7-5 victory.

This will be the Australian’s 11th appearance in the last 16 of a Masters 1000 tournament, although he is yet to clear this barrier.

On eight of those previous 10 occasions he has been the lower-ranked player, and he has come up against a top-10 opponent six times. Fritz, ranked No.9, will be the seventh.

De Minaur and Fritz are locked at 3-3 in the head-to-head series, although Fritz has won their past three meetings.

De Minaur enters the match in strong form, having won seven of his nine hard-court matches since Wimbledon.

This is what Diallo said about the Demon: "He competes — I think so far, from the guys I've played in my life, he's the one that competes the best, for sure."

Good learning experience this week from an up and coming Canadian

— Chris Oddo (@TheFanChild) August 9, 2023

Also on Wednesday, Australian qualifiers Max Purcell and Thanasi Kokkinakis came close to joining De Minaur and Vukic in the third round, before falling in three sets.

Purcell, who upset Felix Auger-Aliassime in round one, led Andy Murray 4-2 in the third set before the former world No.1 staged a compelling comeback.

Kokkinakis held five break points in the second set against 16th seed Lorenzo Musetti; had he converted either two in the ninth game, he would have served for a straight-sets win.

Yet the Italian star recovered to win in three sets, setting up a battle with No.2 seed Daniil Medvedev.

The winner of that match will face the winner of the De Minaur-Fritz clash.

Despite their losses, both Purcell and Kokkinakis – who each won three matches after beginning in the qualifying rounds – have risen eight places in the live rankings, to 70th and 78th respectively.

Aussies in action – Toronto

RESULTS
Men’s singles, second round
Alex de Minaur (AUS) d [WC] Gabriel Diallo (CAN) 6-4 7-5
[LL] Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) d Sebastian Korda (USA) 6-3 4-6 7-6(5)
[16] Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) d [Q] Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) 4-6 7-5 6-4
Andy Murray (GBR) d [Q] Max Purcell (AUS) 7-6(2) 3-6 7-5

Men’s doubles, first round
Sander Gille (BEL)/Joran Vliegen (BEL) d John Peers (AUS)/Marcelo Melo (BRA) 7-6(6) 2-6 [10-7]

COMING UP
Men’s singles, third round
Alex de Minaur (AUS) v [8] Taylor Fritz (USA)
[LL] Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) v Gael Monfils (FRA)

Men’s doubles second round
Max Purcell (AUS)/Andrey Rublev v Nathaniel Lammons (USA)/Jackson Withrow (USA)
[4] Matt Ebden (AUS)/Rohan Bopanna (IND) v Jamie Murray (GBR)/Michael Venus (NZL)

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