Chengdu, China, 22 September 2023 | Matt Trollope

Chengdu, China

Jordan Thompson continued his rich vein of recent form to reach the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 hard-court tournament in Chengdu, China.

The Australian saw off Dusan Lajovic 6-1 7-6(1) to become the first player through to the last eight; there he will meet Roman Safiullin, who upset fourth seed Daniel Evans in straight sets.

The second player into the quarters was Thompson’s countryman Christopher O’Connell, who survived a mammoth fight against Taro Daniel.

He required five set points in the opening set, and five match points in the second, to ultimately seal a 7-6(10) 6-4 win after more than two-and-a-half hours on court.

O’Connell, the world No.53 who has been on a roll recently on Chinese hard courts, sets up a quarterfinal meeting with either Grigor Dimitrov or Juan Pablo Varillas.

He avenged fellow Aussie Aleksandar Vukic’s loss to Daniel; O’Connell will also team with Vukic in first-round doubles action.

Meanwhile, this marks Thompson’s fourth ATP quarterfinal of the season and he has now won eight of his past 11 matches.

The world No.56 raced through the opening set and held two match points in the 12th game of the second. While he missed out on converting those, he dominated the subsequent tiebreak to advance.

Thompson is also playing doubles in Chengdu with Max Purcell, whom he beat in the first round of the singles event.

Later on Friday, at the ATP 250 event in Zhuhai, China, Australian qualifier Alex Bolt takes on No.1 seed Karen Khachanov.

Bolt won his first-round main draw match over Diego Schwartzman, who retired when trailing 6-3 4-2.

For full results and schedule on Australians competing in Zhuhai and Chengdu, visit ATPTour.com.

Guadalajara, Mexico

At the WTA 1000 tournament in Guadalajara, No.1 seed Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens notched another win, beating Alexa Guarachi Monica Niculescu of Romania to progress to the semifinals.

The Australian-Belgian pair of Hunter and Mertens improve to 26-9 in a stellar 2023 season.

They next face Caroline Dolehide and Asia Muhammad for a place in their third big final of the year, after Rome and Wimbledon.

Hunter, currently the world No.6 in doubles, is projected to return to the top five in next week’s rankings.

For full results and schedule on Australians competing in Guadalajara, visit WTATennis.com.

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