Alexei Popyrin and Ajla Tomljanovic lead seven Australians in singles action this week as the Northern Hemisphere claycourt season kicks off.
Popyrin is one of four Australian men competing in the main draw at the Houston ATP 250 event, while Tomljanovic is the sole representative from Down Under at the Charleston WTA 500 event.
Popyrin looks to rediscover the red-hot form he found on clay last year, where he reached the quarterfinals in Monte-Carlo and the fourth round at Roland Garros.
The world No.47 takes on rising American Patrick Kypson, who made an impressive run to the final 16 in Acapulco in February.
Tomljanovic is the leading Australian woman to launch her clay season this week and faces Croatian qualifier Donna Vekic in the opening round in South Carolina.
The world No.81 hopes to go one better after making the last 16 in Charleston in 2025, and arrives on the green clay after a sturdy showing in the Sunshine Swing.
She made the third round at Indian Wells with an impressive victory over world No.30 Wang Xinyu, and took a set off world No.6 Amanda Anisimova in Miami. In February, she defeated second seed Iva Jovic on her way to the quarterfinals in Austin.
Meanwhile, Adam Walton, Rinky Hijikata and Alex Bolt join Popyrin in Houston’s main draw.
Walton, ranked world No.85, faces Argentinian Roman Andres Burruchaga in the first round, while Hijikata comes up against tricky American Aleksandar Kovacevic, who downed Hubert Hurkacz and Corentin Moutet at Indian Wells.
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Hijikata will fancy his chances after a confidence-boosting run to the fourth round at Indian Wells as a qualifier, which included stirring victories over world No.10 Alexander Bublik and No.21 Luciano Darderi.
Bolt, who came through Houston qualifying, will play China’s Wu Yibing.
Elsewhere, Aleksandar Vukic faces local wildcard Taha Baadi in Marrakech. A win would see the Australian come head-to-head with third-seeded Moutet in the round of 16.
In Bucharest, Chris O’Connell is up against seventh seed Mariano Navone, but won’t be daunted after an excellent quarterfinal run in Rotterdam last month, which included a straight-sets victory over Cameron Norrie.
In doubles, Walton and Blake Bayldon have drawn fourth-seeded American duo Evan King and Reese Stalder in Houston, while John Peers, Marc Polmans and Hijikata will also play doubles with different partners.
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