Indian Wells, USA, 7 October 2021 | Leigh Rogers

Six Australian men will compete in the Indian Wells singles main draw this year, with Aleksandar Vukic boosting numbers by earning his place through qualifying.

The world No.202 recorded a 6-1 6-4 victory against American Bjorn Fratangelo in the final qualifying round in the Californian desert today.

Vukic fought back from a 1-4 deficit in the second set, winning the final five games of the match to clinch victory in 78 minutes.

He joins fellow Australians Alex de Minaur, James Duckworth, Alexei Popyrin, Jordan Thompson and John Millman in the main draw.

It is the third time Vukic has qualified for a tour-level tournament in his career, having previously done so at Roland Garros last year and Queen’s Club in June.

The 25-year-old from Sydney was unable to compete in US Open qualifying earlier this season after testing positive to COVID-19, however bounced back strongly to reach back-to-back ATP Challenger semifinals in America last month. Since returning to the tour, Vukic has won eight of his 10 matches.

Now set to make his first main draw appearance at an ATP Masters 1000 event, Vukic’s first-round opponent is Spain’s Pablo Andujar.

Aussies in action – Indian Wells

RESULTS
Men’s qualifying singles, final round
[24] Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) d [12] Bjorn Fratangelo (USA) 6-1 6-4

COMING UP
Women’s singles, first round
Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) v [Q] Usue Maitane Arconada (USA)
[Q] Astra Sharma (AUS) v Donna Vekic (CRO)

Men’s singles, first round
[22] Alex de Minaur (AUS) v Bye
James Duckworth (AUS) v Mackenzie McDonald (USA)
Alexei Popyrin (AUS) v Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB)
John Millman (AUS) v [WC] Jack Sock (USA)
Jordan Thompson (AUS) v Kevin Anderson (RSA)
[Q] Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) v Pablo Andujar (ESP)

Women’s doubles, first round
Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS)/Shelby Rogers (USA) v Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR)/Jelena Ostapenko (LAT)
Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)/Arina Rodionova (AUS) v Veronika Kudermetova (RUS)/Elena Rybakina (KAZ)

Men’s doubles, first round
[7] John Peers (AUS)/Filip Polasek (SVK) v Ariel Behar (URU)/Gonzlao Escobar (ECU)
Alex de Minaur (AUS)/Reilly Opelka (USA) v Aslan Karatsev (RUS)/Andrey Rublev (RUS)
Luke Saville (AUS)/Cameron Norrie (GBR) v [2] Rajeev Ram (USA)/Joe Salisbury (GBR)