Alexei Popyrin and Max Purcell have soared to career-high rankings contained in the world’s high 50 in an enormous increase to Australia’s US Open hopes.
After profitable simply 5 matches in a deflating 2022 marketing campaign, Popyrin has surged to fortieth within the rankings after a powerful month on clay and exhausting courts.
The former French Open junior champion upset triple grand slam winner Stan Wawrinka to seize his maiden ATP title on the purple grime of the Croatia Open in Umag earlier than transitioning to exhausting courts with a run from qualifying to the quarter-finals finally week’s Cincinnati Masters 1000 occasion.
Popyrin is instantly the brand new Australian No.2 behind world No.13 Alex de Minaur, the 2020 US Open quarter-finalist who will take pleasure in an all-important top-16 seeding in New York when this yr’s match will get beneath approach subsequent week.
Purcell is as much as forty seventh within the new ATP standing after persevering with his extraordinary transformation from grand slam doubles champion to main singles pressure.
The 2022 Wimbledon doubles winner additionally made the final eight in Cincinnati from qualifying, pushing world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz to 6-4 within the third set in an epic quarter-final.
Purcell downed world No.12 Felix Auger-Aliassime the week earlier than in Toronto and superior to the second spherical in Winston-Salem on Tuesday to mark himself as a participant to keep away from at Flushing Meadows.
Even with out injured 2022 quarter-finalist Nick Kyrgios, Australia can have eight males within the high 100 competing on the season’s ultimate grand slam.
Aleksandar Vukic and Chris O’Connell have each loved career-high rankings up to now month following breakout seasons.
Jordan Thompson stays within the high 50, and Thanasi Kokkinakis and Jason Kubler are persevering with their impressed progress after injury-plagued careers.
Rinky Hijikata’s wildcard entry offers Australia at the least 9 gamers within the US Open males’s singles draw, with John Millman, James Duckworth and Marc Polmans all contesting qualifying from Wednesday.
Daria Saville is lining up within the ladies’s singles essential draw on an injury-protected rating alongside 2022 quarter-finalist Ajla Tomljanovic and wildcard Storm Hunter.
Another seven Australian ladies – Kim Birrell, Olivia Gadecki, Arina Rodionova, Jaimee Fourlis, Astra Sharma, Priscilla Hon and Lizette Cabrera – are in qualifying.
Players should win three sudden-death matches to navigate their option to the primary draw.
The Open draw takes place early on Friday morning (AEST).
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
