Aussies in action: De Minaur returns, Aussie women qualify | 14 October, 2024 | All News | News and Features | News and Events

Alex de Minaur will play for the first time since the US Open as the top seed in Antwerp, while Ajla Tomljanovic, Olivia Gadecki and Kimberly Birrell will contest WTA events in Asia after qualifying.

Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 14 October 2024 | Matt Trollope

Alex de Minaur will make his return to the match court when he contests the ATP tournament in Antwerp this week.

De Minaur is the top seed at the European Open, where he will play for the first time in a month after taking further time out to recuperate from a hip injury following his US Open quarterfinal.

He is one of seven Australians in action at tour-level events this week across the globe, along with Ajla Tomljanovic, Olivia Gadecki, Kimberly Birrell, James Duckworth, Aleksandar Vukic and Chris O’Connell.

Tomljanovic and Gadecki have continued their impressive form by qualifying for the main draw at the WTA 500 tournament in Ningbo, China.

Tomljanovic, a recent winner at the WTA 125K event in Hong Kong, dropped just five games in two qualifying victories in Ningbo.

Back in the top 100, she has won seven of her past eight matches and lines up in the main draw against China’s Yuan Yue.

Gadecki, who sits just one spot above Tomljanovic in the rankings at world No.84, came through Ningbo qualifying in similarly-commanding style, winning both her matches in straight sets.

The No.1 Aussie woman’s next assignment is a tough opening-round match against resurgent Czech Karolina Muchova, a US Open semifinalist and China Open finalist.

The winner of that match will face No.2 seed Zheng Qinwen.

Gadecki, Australia’s No.1 woman since reaching the WTA final in Guadalajara, discussed her newly-reworked Asian swing schedule in her recent appearance on The Sit-Down podcast.

Sitting down with Australia’s new No.1 WTA singles player 👋

Olivia Gadecki is the latest Aussie success story of 2024 🎧 https://t.co/Q6r3CarVU1 pic.twitter.com/rNhxzk0Owd

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) September 23, 2024

In Osaka, Birrell won two matches in qualifying to set up a first-round meeting with Zheng Saisai in the main draw.

In the past six weeks, Birrell has won through the qualifying rounds to reach main draws at the US Open and WTA events in Guadalajara, Beijing and Osaka.

Further west in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Duckworth and Vukic will clash in an all-Aussie affair in the first round of that ATP 250 event.

Duckworth arrives in Almaty fresh of his ATP Challenger title in Hangzhou, China, while Vukic advanced to the third round of the Shanghai Masters earlier this month, upsetting No.8 seed Casper Ruud along the way for his first top-10 win.

AUSSIE WEEKLY WRAP: Duckworth back in the winner’s circle in China

Joining them in the main draw is O’Connell, who opens against Canada’s Gabriel Diallo.

And in Europe, De Minaur will play just his second tournament since Wimbledon as he continues to make his way back from a hip cartilage tear.

The world No.9, who reached consecutive major quarterfinals at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open this year, receives a first-round bye in Antwerp.

He will face the winner of the match between Dominik Koepfer and Roberto Carballes Baena.

De Minaur, who peaked at world No.6 in July, has built an impressive 40-13 win-loss record in 2024.