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James Duckworth hopes his best tennis remains ahead of him after departing the US Open with a rankings boost, a healthy body and a big pay cheque.
Key points:
- James Duckworth lost to Great Britain’s Dan Evans 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to bow out of the US Open
- Alexei Popyrin went down to 14th seed Argentinian Diego Schwartzman 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, 7-6 (8-6)
- Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios are set to open their doubles campaign this morning
Duckworth was left disappointed at not being able to drag 20th seed Dan Evans into a fifth set in a 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 second-round loss to the Briton on Thursday.
“I started playing some alright tennis in the third and fourth sets. The first two were pretty bad,” he said.
“Up a break in the fourth and was pretty unlucky the game I got broken.”
Still, the 30-year-old is set to jump eight spots in the rankings to world number 75, almost certainly ensuring him direct entry to the first grand slam of 2022 in Melbourne.
Duckworth had dropped from a career-high 46th in January.
He has plenty of points over the next four months after a sizzling finish to 2021 but finally feels like he can at least trust his body.
The Sydneysider has endured 10 rounds of foot, elbow, shoulder and hip surgery to keep his career afloat.
Now, apart from leaving New York with $US121,000 ($A168,000), Duckworth said he also now feels physically great.
“I take a lot of positives with my body. I was really happy with how my body was. I’m feeling way better than I was even a month ago,” he said.
“Moving pretty well and my tennis slowly getting better. I feel like I’m getting better every week. It’s positive. I’ve still got a bit to go but it’s good stuff.”
He plans to play a mixture of Challenger and ATP events to finish his season.
“The goal now is to just finish the year healthy and rankings-wise try and get as close to top 100 as possible,” Duckworth said.
“And hopefully kick off the Aussie Open in a decent spot.”
In other results for the Australian contingent, Alexei Popyrin lost to 14th seed Argentinian Diego Schwartzman 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, 7-6 (8-6), while Max Purcell and Matt Ebden paired up in the men’s doubles to down Andres Molteni and Santiago Gonzalez in three sets.
Storm Sanders and Daria Saville both made it through with their partners in the women’s doubles, while Samantha Stosur and Ajla Tomljanovic both bowed out.
In other matches today, Jason Kubler is set to face American Frances Tiafoe, in the men’s singles, while Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis are also preparing to take the court in the doubles.
AAP
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