Singapore, 24 February 2021 | Leigh Rogers

Australia’s Matthew Ebden is through to the second round at the Singapore Tennis Open.

The world No.316, who is a wildcard entry at the ATP 250 tournament, scored a 6-3 7-6(3) victory against India’s Yuki Bhambri today.

The 33-year-old Western Australian fired four aces and only lost 18 points on his serve in the 90-minute victory.

It is Edben’s first ATP main draw singles win outside of Australia since June 2019.  The in-form Ebden, who made the Australian Open 2021 mixed doubles final last week, now faces No.2 seed and fellow Aussie John Millman in the second round.

> FEATURE: Ebden ready for big 2021 season

Ebden, who will be aiming to score his first top-50 win since October 2018, does have a winning record against the world No.39.

He has won five of his previous seven matches against Millman, including their past three meetings. This will be their first match since 2015.

The winner will play Australia’s Alexei Popyrin, who advanced to the quarterfinals with a three-set victory over Bulgarian wildcard Adrian Andreev.

Aussies in action – Singapore

RESULTS

Men’s singles, first round
[WC] Matthew Ebden (AUS) d Yuki Bhambri (IND) 6-3 7-6(3)

Men’s singles, second round
Alexei Popyrin (AUS) d [WC] Adrian Andreev (BUL) 6-1 5-7 6-3

Men’s doubles, first round
[4] Matthew Ebden (AUS)/John-Patrick Smith (AUS) d [Alt] Christopher Eubanks (USA)/Thai-son Kwiatkowski (USA) 6-4 6-2
[3] Luke Bambridge (GBR)/Dominic Inglot (GBR) d John Millman (AUS)/Yannick Hanfmann (GER) 6-3 6-3

COMING UP

Men’s singles, second round
[2] John Millman (AUS) v [WC] Matthew Ebden (AUS)

Men’s singles, quarterfinals
Alexei Popyrin (AUS) v TBC

Men’s doubles, quarterfinals
[4] Matthew Ebden (AUS)/John-Patrick Smith (AUS) v Robert Galloway (USA)/Alex Lawson (USA)