Australian tennis continues thriving on grass ahead of Wimbledon
Australian tennis has continued its fine European summer on grass, with three more men pulling off upsets on Monday night (AEST) in Mallorca and Eastbourne.
Aleksandar Vukic raced past world No.45 Fabian Marozsan in straight sets, while Max Purcell and Rinky Hijikata both went the distance to claim victory over Laslo Djere and Luca Nardi respectively.
The wins are the latest in a series of impressive Australian performances on grass.
With Wimbledon beginning on Monday, the Aussie contingent is set to make one of its strongest pushes in decades at the year’s third Grand Slam.
More than just de Minaur performing on grass for Australia
Coming into the grass-court season on the ATP Tour, all eyes were on Australia’s Alex de Minaur.
The 25-year-old had cracked the top 10 for the first time earlier this year and had a career-best clay season, including a French Open quarter-final.
De Minaur is the Australian most favoured by tennis bookmakers to go deep at Wimbledon, holding the seventh line of betting at $21.
Wimbledon 2024 odds – Alex de Minaur to win
However, there are plenty of other dark-horse candidates.
Jordan Thompson, ranked No.39 in the world, just made an impressive run to the semi-finals of the Queen’s Club Championships.
En route to the final four, he defeated No.15 Holger Rune, former world No.1 Andy Murray, and No.12 Taylor Fritz.
Thompson could be a great bet to cause some trouble in the opening rounds of Wimbledon.
Then there’s Hijikata, who made the quarter-finals of Queen’s last week.
After navigating qualifying, he then sent No.28 Frances Tiafoe and No.35 Matteo Arnaldi home before pushing Sebastian Korda to a deciding set.
Throw in James Duckworth — who has eight grass wins already this season, including the scalp of No.14 Ben Shelton — and there are plenty of Australian threats at Wimbledon.
