St. Petersburg, Russia, 27 October 2021 | Leigh Rogers

St. Petersburg, Russia

John Millman has stormed into the second round at an ATP 250 tournament in St. Petersburg, needing only 65 minutes to post a 6-1 6-1 win against Israeli wildcard Yshai Oliel.

The world No.57-ranked Australian lost only 10 points in total on his service games in the dominant victory.

It continues an impressive run of form for 32-year-old Millman, who has won 8 of his past 12 matches and advanced to four tour-level quarterfinals since representing Australia at the Tokyo Olympics in July.

To reach a fifth quarterfinal, Millman faces a tough test in the second round. He plays fourth-seeded Russian Aslan Karatsev, who enjoyed a title-winning run at the Kremlin Cup last week.

The 28-year-old Karatsev did not lose a set at the Moscow tournament and was rewarded with a top-20 debut.

Aussies in action – St. Petersburg

RESULTS
Men’s singles, first round
John Millman (AUS) d [WC] Yshai Oliel (ISR) 6-1 6-1

COMING UP
Men’s singles, second round
John Millman (AUS) v [4] Aslan Karatsev (RUS)

Men’s doubles, first round
Luke Saville (AUS)/John-Patrick Smith (AUS) v Dominic Inglot (GBR)/Ken Skupski (GBR)

Vienna, Austria

Alex de Minaur faces a big challenge in the second round at an ATP 500 tournament in Vienna, with the 22-year-old Australian playing world No.4 Alexander Zverev for a place in the quarterfinals.

Zverev has won four of their five previous tour-level meetings. However, De Minaur won their most recent clash in a three-set battle at the ATP Cup at Brisbane in January 2020.

Australian John Peers and Slovak partner Filip Polasek also play Zverev and his Austrian partner Jurgen Melzer in first-round doubles action.

Aussies in action – Vienna

COMING UP
Men’s singles, second round
Alex de Minaur (AUS) v [2] Alexander Zverev (GER)

Men’s doubles, first round
[3] John Peers (AUS)/Filip Polasek (SVK) v Jurgen Melzer (AUT)/Alexander Zverev (GER)

Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Ajla Tomljanovic is hoping to advance to her second quarterfinal of the season this week at the Transylvania Open in Romania.

The 28-year-old Australian plays local wildcard Jaqueline Cristian in the second round at the WTA 250 tournament.

It will be world No.43 Tomljanovic’s first career meeting with the 23-year-old Romanian, who is currently ranked at a career-high No.105.

Aussies in action – Cluj-Napoca

COMING UP
Women’s singles, second round
[5] Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) v [WC] Jaqueline Cristian (ROU)