Kimberly Birrell overcame Elise Mertens to reach the quarterfinals in Osaka, while Aleksandar Vukic is through to the last eight in Almaty.
Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 18 October 2024 | Matt Trollope
Kimberly Birrell’s memorable week in Osaka continues, with the Australian qualifier through to her fourth career WTA-level quarterfinal.
Birrell overcame injured third seed Elise Mertens, who retired when trailing 4-1 in the third set of their second-round match at the Japanese 250 tournament.
After winning two rounds of qualifying, Birrell has now won four straight matches in Osaka and next lines up against Japanese wildcard Sara Saito.
Should she beat the world No.179, she would progress to the first WTA-level semifinal of her career. The Queenslander appeared in WTA quarterfinals in Merida and Seoul last year, and Nottingham earlier in 2024.
Birrell’s ranking is already projected to rise to the cusp of the top 130 with her performance in Osaka this week.
In Almaty, Kazakhstan, Aleksandar Vukic continued his impressive form with a straight-sets win over No.8 seed Adrian Mannarino.
Down goes the defending champ🤯
Aleksandar Vukic takes out Adrian Mannarino 7-6 6-3 to book his place in the last 8️⃣#AlmatyOpen pic.twitter.com/Del3VJyzX9
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 17, 2024
The 7-6(4) 6-3 triumph over the Frenchman sets up a quarterfinal clash with top seed Frances Tiafoe.
Vukic has now won six of his past seven matches, after reaching the third round of the Shanghai Masters as a qualifier – a tournament campaign that saw him upset Casper Ruud for his first top-10 win.
Vukic, who has improved eight places to 77th in the ATP live rankings, lost his only previous meeting with Tiafoe in three tight sets at the Dallas Challenger in 2020.
He will battle Tiafoe on Friday evening (Australian time) for a place in the semifinals, around the same time Birrell takes on Saito in Osaka.
Another Aussie, Alex de Minaur, is through to the quarterfinals in Antwerp and will play Hugo Gaston for a place in the semifinals.
> READ MORE: De Minaur victorious in return from injury in Antwerp
That match is scheduled for Friday late afternoon local time.
Meanwhile, at the WTA 500 tournament in Ningbo, China, Ellen Perez is through to the doubles semifinals with American partner Nicole Melichar-Martinez.
The top seeds beat Ulrikke Eikeri and Wu Fang-Hsien 6-0 6-4 to set up a meeting with No.4 seeds Giuliana Olmos and Alexandra Panova.
Perez and Melichar-Martinez improve their 2024 win-loss record to 35-19 and are chasing their third tour-level title this season.
