Marrakech, Morocco, 5 April 2023 | Leigh Rogers

Marrakech, Morocco

Chris O’Connell has made a winning start to his clay-court season at an ATP 250 tournament in Marrakech.

The 28-year-old Australian posted a 7-5 6-4 victory against Italian qualifier Riccardo Bonadio in the opening round.

World No.87 O’Connell won 80 per cent of first-serve points in the 98-minute encounter.

This is O’Connell’s second career ATP-level main-draw victory on clay and sets up a second-round showdown with world No.31 Botic van de Zandschulp.

Aussies in action – Marrakech

RESULTS
Men’s singles, first round
Chris O’Connell (AUS) d [Q] Riccardo Bonadio (ITA) 7-5 6-4

COMING UP
Men’s singles, second round
Alexei Popyrin (AUS) v [2] Dan Evans (GBR)
Chris O’Connell (AUS) v [3] Botic van de Zandschulp (NED)

Houston, USA

Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler have combined to score their first team win since their memorable Australian Open 2023 run.

The reigning AO champions defeated American wildcards William Blumberg and Christian Harrison 6-2 7-5 in opening-round doubles action today at an ATP 250 tournament in Houston.

It is their seventh victory from the nine matches they have contested so far this season.

Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson also moved into the doubles quarterfinals at the clay-court event, blitzing past American wildcards Hunter Reese and Reese Stalder in 58 minutes.

Earlier in the day, Thompson’s singles campaign ended with a straight-sets loss to fifth-seeded American J.J. Wolf.

Aussies in action – Houston

RESULTS
Men’s singles, first round
[5] J.J. Wolf (USA) d Jordan Thompson (AUS) 6-3 6-2

Men’s doubles, first round
[1] Rinky Hijikata (AUS)/Jason Kubler (AUS) d [WC] William Blumberg (USA)/Christian Harrison (USA) 6-2 7-5
Max Purcell (AUS)/Jordan Thompson (AUS) d [WC] Hunter Reese (USA)/Reese Stalder (USA) 6-1 6-4

COMING UP
Men’s singles, first round
Max Purcell (AUS) v Daniel Altmaier (GER)

Men’s singles, second round
[6] Jason Kubler (AUS) v Daniel Elahi Galan (COL)

Men’s doubles, quarterfinals
[1] Rinky Hijikata (AUS)/Jason Kubler (AUS) v Robert Galloway (USA)/Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX)
Max Purcell (AUS)/Jordan Thompson (AUS) v [2] Nathaniel Lammons (USA)/Jackson Withrow (USA)

Charleston, USA

Storm Hunter and American partner Caroline Dolehide have charged into the women’s doubles quarterfinals at a WTA 500 tournament in Charleston.

The third-seeded combination scored a 7-5 6-3 victory against Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Czech Miriam Kolodziejova in first-round action today.

This is the first time that world No.12 Hunter and world No.36 Dolehide have teamed up since reaching last year’s US Open semifinals. They were also Wimbledon semifinalists together in 2021.

Aussies in action – Charleston

RESULTS
Women’s doubles, first round
[3] Storm Hunter (AUS)/Caroline Dolehide (USA) d Ulrikke Eikeri (NOR)/Miriam Kolodziejova (CZE) 7-5 6-3

COMING UP
Women’s doubles, quarterfinals
[3] Storm Hunter (AUS)/Caroline Dolehide (USA) v TBC

Bogota, Colombia

Olivia Tjandramulia, Australia’s No.3-ranked woman in doubles, has been eliminated at a WTA 250 tournament in Bogota.

World No.108 Tjandramulia and Chinese Taipei’s Wu Fang-Hsien lost their opening-round match against American Quinn Gleason and France’s Elixane Lechemia in straight sets.

Aussies in action – Bogota

RESULTS
Women’s doubles, first round
Quinn Gleason (USA)/Elixane Lechemia (FRA) d [4] Olivia Tjandramulia (AUS)/Wu Fang-Hsien (TPE) 6-2 6-3

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