Marrakech, Morocco, 5 April 2024 | Dan Imhoff

Marrakech, Morocco

Before arriving at Marrakech this week, Aleksandar Vukic had never won a tour-level match on clay.

On Thursday, he won his second straight after surviving a near-three-hour tussle against No.2 seed Sebastian Ofner for his maiden clay-court quarterfinal.

The 27-year-old Australian backed up his win over last year’s runner-up Alexandre Muller 7-6(11) 2-6 7-6(7) to set a quarterfinal showdown with seventh seed Mariano Navone of Argentina.

Ranked 20 places lower, world No.67 Vukic shone in a nailbiting deciding tiebreak when he saved a match point and converted on his third for his fourth career quarterfinal.

> READ MORE: Nick Kyrgios declares “I’ll be back on court soon”

Aussies in action – Marrakech

RESULTS
Men’s singles, second round
Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) d [2] Sebastian Ofner (AUT) 7-6(11) 2-6 7-6(7)

COMING UP
Men’s singles, quarterfinals
Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) v [7] Mariano Navone (ARG)

Houston, USA

Jordan Thompson has avenged an Acapulco defeat to Aleksandar Kovacevic in February, staving off three match points to reach the Houston quarterfinals on Thursday.

The sixth-seeded Australian faced match points in both tiebreaks before prevailing 4-6 7-6(1) 7-6(7) in a three-and-a-half-hour battle.

James Duckworth and eighth seed Max Purcell earlier lost their second-round encounters to Americans – defending champion Frances Tiafoe and Michael Mmoh – respectively.

Thompson will next meet third seed Tiafoe, who improved his record against Duckworth to 2-1 with a 6-2 6-7(4) 7-5 victory.

The 79^th-ranked Purcell’s push for a maiden clay-court quarterfinal fell short after wild card Mmoh claimed the pair’s first tour-level meeting 6-2 7-5.

Aussies in action – Houston

RESULTS
Men’s singles, second round
[6] Jordan Thompson (AUS) d Aleksandar Kovacevic (USA) 4-6 7-6(1) 7-6(7)
[WC] Michael Mmoh (USA) d [8] Max Purcell (AUS) 6-2 7-5
[3] Frances Tiafoe (USA) d James Duckworth (AUS) 6-2 6-7(4) 7-5

Men’s doubles, quarterfinals
John Peers (AUS)/William Blumberg (USA) d [WC] Andres Andrade (ECU)/Ben Shelton (USA) 6-2 6-1
Fernando Romboli (BRA)/Marcelo Zormann Da Silva (BRA) d Andrew Harris (AUS)/Rinky Hijikata (AUS) 6-1 6-4

COMING UP
Men’s singles, quarterfinals
[6] Jordan Thompson (AUS) v [3] Frances Tiafoe (USA)

Men’s doubles, semifinals
[4] Max Purcell (AUS)/Jordan Thompson (AUS) v N. Sriram Balaji (IND)/Andre Begemann (GER)
John Peers (AUS)/William Blumberg (USA) v Fernando Romboli (BRA)/Marcelo Zormann Da Silva (BRA)

Charleston, USA

Astra Sharma’s bid for a first tour-level quarterfinal in almost two years has fallen short after succumbing to Greek third seed Maria Sakkari 6-4 6-1 at the WTA 500 event at Charleston.

The 135^th-ranked lucky loser, who won her sole tour title at a Charleston WTA 250 event in 2021, was unable to back up her upset of 16^th seed Lesia Tsurenko.

Qualifier Daria Saville’s hopes of reaching the third round are also over after falling to seventh seed Elina Svitolina.

In their first clash in almost five years, Ukrainian world No.17 Svitolina extended her record against the 108^th-ranked Australian to 8-2 following the 6-2 6-4 victory.

Aussies in action – Charleston

RESULTS
Women’s singles, third round
[3] Maria Sakkari (GRE) d [LL] Astra Sharma (AUS)

Women’s singles, second round
[7] Elina Svitolina (UKR) d [Q] Daria Saville (AUS)

Women’s doubles, quarterfinals
[1] Ellen Perez (AUS)/Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) d Magda Linette (POL)/Zhang Shuai (CHN) 6-2 6-0

COMING UP
Women’s doubles, semifinals
[1] Ellen Perez (AUS)/Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) v Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR)/Nadia Kichenok (UKR)