Kimberly Birrell overcame Elise Mertens to succeed in the quarterfinals in Osaka, whereas Aleksandar Vukic is thru to the final eight in Almaty.
Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 18 October 2024 | Matt Trollope
Kimberly Birrell’s memorable week in Osaka continues, with the Australian qualifier by to her fourth profession WTA-level quarterfinal.
Birrell overcame injured third seed Elise Mertens, who retired when trailing 4-1 within the third set of their second-round match on the Japanese 250 event.
After profitable two rounds of qualifying, Birrell has now received 4 straight matches in Osaka and subsequent traces up towards Japanese wildcard Sara Saito.
Ought to she beat the world No.179, she would progress to the primary WTA-level semifinal of her profession. The Queenslander appeared in WTA quarterfinals in Merida and Seoul final 12 months, and Nottingham earlier in 2024.
Birrell’s rating is already projected to rise to the cusp of the highest 130 together with her efficiency in Osaka this week.
In Almaty, Kazakhstan, Aleksandar Vukic continued his spectacular type with a straight-sets win over No.8 seed Adrian Mannarino.
Down goes the defending champ🤯
Aleksandar Vukic takes out Adrian Mannarino 7-6 6-3 to guide his place within the final 8️⃣#AlmatyOpen pic.twitter.com/Del3VJyzX9
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 17, 2024
The 7-6(4) 6-3 overcome the Frenchman units up a quarterfinal conflict with prime seed Frances Tiafoe.
Vukic has now received six of his previous seven matches, after reaching the third spherical of the Shanghai Masters as a qualifier – a event marketing campaign that noticed him upset Casper Ruud for his first top-10 win.
Vukic, who has improved eight locations to 77th within the ATP dwell rankings, misplaced his solely earlier assembly with Tiafoe in three tight units on the Dallas Challenger in 2020.
He’ll battle Tiafoe on Friday night (Australian time) for a spot within the semifinals, across the identical time Birrell takes on Saito in Osaka.
One other Aussie, Alex de Minaur, is thru to the quarterfinals in Antwerp and can play Hugo Gaston for a spot within the semifinals.
> READ MORE: De Minaur victorious in return from harm in Antwerp
That match is scheduled for Friday late afternoon native time.
In the meantime, on the WTA 500 event in Ningbo, China, Ellen Perez is thru to the doubles semifinals with American companion Nicole Melichar-Martinez.
The highest seeds beat Ulrikke Eikeri and Wu Fang-Hsien 6-0 6-4 to arrange a gathering with No.4 seeds Giuliana Olmos and Alexandra Panova.
Perez and Melichar-Martinez enhance their 2024 win-loss file to 35-19 and are chasing their third tour-level title this season.
