Adelaide, South Australia , 10 January 2023 | Tennis Australia

Jason Kubler has continued his impressive start to the 2023 season at the Adelaide International 2, with a straight-sets victory over higher-ranked Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

Kubler, a wildcard at the ATP 250 tournament, required two hours and 10 minutes to record a 7-6(2) 7-5 victory over the world No.80 from Argentina, setting a second-round contest with No.6 seed Miomir Kecmanovic.

The Queenslander, who sits at a career-high world No.86 after recording wins over Dan Evans and Albert Ramos-Vinolas at the United Cup in Sydney, served with deadly efficiency over Etcheverry. He recorded 10 aces, only one double fault and saved all five break points that he faced.

“It was a tough one,” said Kubler, who was making his Centre Court debut at The Drive.

“I’ve never played on this court before, so at the beginning I actually found it quite tough to see, so returning the serve was quite difficult but then as the sun went down and we played under lights, it made it a little bit easier.”

The essence of tennis excellence runs in his veins! 👌

Jason Kubler takes the first Set! 🇦🇺

🖥️ #AdelaideTennis LIVE | https://t.co/fGur3Qtb6y#9WWOS #Tennis pic.twitter.com/oHwyTmLOJ9

— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) January 10, 2023

In a contest of the tightest margins between the evenly-matched combatants, the first set was decided in a tiebreak after neither player surrendered any edge on their serve.

“I honestly thought I served pretty well,” Kubler said. “I was just trying to compete as hard as I could. He brought it tonight and I was trying to match him.”

Kubler did so superbly as he finally gained a service break late in the second set, and calmly served out the win.

It was a tougher evening in Adelaide for Australia’s Storm Sanders, who fell in two tight sets to Kaia Kanepi.

Earlier, John Millman saved a pair of match points as he overcame Ramos-Vinolas, while Chris O’Connell fell in two tight sets to Tommy Paul.

AUSSIES IN ACTION – Adelaide

TODAY’S RESULTS
Men’s singles, first round
[WC] Jason Kubler (AUS) d [Q] Tomas Martin Etcheverry (ARG) 7-6(2) 7-5
[Q] John Millman (AUS) d Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) 4-6 6-3 7-6(6)
[8] Tommy Paul (USA) d [LL] Chris O’Connell (AUS) 6-4 7-5

Women’s singles, first round
[LL] Kaia Kanepi (EST) d [WC] Storm Hunter (AUS) 6-2 6-2

Women’s doubles, first round
Alicja Rosolska (POL)/Erin Routliffe (NZL) d [WC] Alana Parnaby (AUS)/Olivia Tjandramulia (AUS) 6-3 6-4

Men’s doubles, first round
[WC] Jeremy Beale (AUS)/Luke Saville (AUS) d Julian Cash (GBR)/Henry Patten (GBR) 3-6 6-3 [10-5]

COMING UP
Men’s doubles, first round
[WC] Blake Ellis (AUS)/Andrew Harris (AUS) v [Alt] Tomas Martin Etcheverry (ARG)/Diego Hidalgo (ECU)

Men’s singles, second round
[WC] Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) v [1] Andrey Rublev
[Q] John Millman (AUS) v [7] Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP)
[WC] Jason Kubler (AUS) v [6] Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB)

Women’s doubles, second round
[1] Storm Hunter (AUS)/Barbora Krejcikova (CZE) v Miriam Kolodziejova (CZE)/Marketa Vondrousova (CZE)
Sam Stosur (AUS)/Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/Elena Rybakina (KAZ)

Men’s doubles, second round
[5] Matt Ebden (AUS)/Rohan Bopanna (IND) v Nicolas Mahut (FRA)/Tim Puetz (GER)
John Peers (AUS)/Andreas Mies (GER) v [3] Ivan Dodig (CRO)/Austin Krajicek (USA)
[WC] Jeremy Beale (AUS)/Luke Saville (AUS) v [7] Rafael Matos (BRA)/David Vega Hernandez (ESP)

Book online, play today: Visit play.tennis.com.au to get out on court and have some fun!