Aleksandar Vukic (Serbian: Александар Вукић, Aleksandar Vukić, pronounced [aleksǎːndar ʋǔːkitɕ, alěksaːn-]; born 6 April 1996) is an Australian professional tennis player. He has a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. 48 achieved on 14 August 2023. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 389 achieved on 21 March 2022.

Aleksandar Vukic
Vukic at the 2022 French Open
Country (sports) Australia
ResidenceSydney, New South Wales, Australia
Born (1996-04-06) 6 April 1996 (age 28)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Turned pro2018
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
CollegeIllinois
Prize moneyUS$ 2,035,086
Singles
Career record41–53
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 48 (14 August 2023)
Current rankingNo. 92 (26 August 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2022)
French Open1R (2020, 2024)
Wimbledon2R (2023, 2024)
US Open1R (2023, 2024)
Doubles
Career record5–13
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 389 (21 March 2022)
Current rankingNo. 551 (26 August 2024)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open2R (2024)
Wimbledon1R (2024)
US Open1R (2023)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open1R (2021)
Last updated on: 26 August 2024.

Vukic has won one ITF Futures singles title. Vukic made his main draw ATP singles debut at the 2018 Sydney International and his Grand Slam debut at the 2020 French Open, after qualifying for both.

Early life

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Vukic was born in Sydney, Australia, and is of Serbian and Montenegrin origin.[1] His parents and older brother left Montenegro during the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s and settled in Sydney before Vukic was born.[2] Vukic began playing tennis at the age of 6 and later attended the University of Illinois from 2015 to 2018 where he was named three-time All-American in tennis.[3]

Professional career

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2014–2019: ITF and ATP debut

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Vukic made his ITF Tour debut in Spain in May 2014.

Vukic made his main draw ATP singles debut at the 2018 Sydney International, where he qualified for the main draw by defeating Dušan Lajović and Ričardas Berankis. He came within two points of defeating Feliciano López, ranked No. 36 in the world. He lost the match 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 3–6.

In May 2019, Vukic reached the semifinal of the 2019 Savannah Challenger, his best performance at the ATP Challenger Tour level. Following a quarter-final appearance at 2019 Internazionali di Tennis Città dell'Aquila, Vukic reached a career high singles ranking of No. 258.

2020: Grand Slam and top 200 debut

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In January 2020, Vukic reached the final round of 2020 Australian Open – Men's singles qualifying. In March 2020, Vukic reached his first ATP Challenger Tour final in Monterrey Challenger.[4]

In September, Vukic qualified for the 2020 French Open main draw, where he made his Grand Slam singles debut. He lost in round one to Pedro Martínez.[5]

Vukic ended 2020 with a singles ranking of world no. 196.

2021: First ATP Tour win, Masters debut and first win

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Vukic commenced the 2021 season at the 2021 Great Ocean Road Open, where he defeated Yen-Hsun Lu for his first ATP main draw win.[6] Vukic was defeated by Jannik Sinner in the second round.[7]

At the 2021 Australian Open, Vukic entered into the main draw as a wildcard and lost to 19th seed Karen Khachanov in the first round.

Vukic returned the ATP Challenger tour, achieving quarterfinal appearances in April at Split and Split II.

Vukic lost in the third and final round of qualifying for the French Open and in the first round of qualifying for Wimbledon Championships.

In August 2021, Vukic tested positive for COVID-19 and had to skip the US Open.[8]

On 20 September 2021, and following a semifinal result at the Cary Challenger, Vukic improved his ranking back to No. 214.[9] In October at the 2021 BNP Paribas Open he recorded his first main draw win at a Masters 1000 level as a qualifier defeating Pablo Andújar.[10][11] He followed this by a final also in singles at the 2021 Charlottesville Men's Pro Challenger where he lost to Stefan Kozlov.

He reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 156 on 22 November 2021.

2022: First ATP quarterfinal, Challenger title and Major win, top 125

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At the Adelaide International 2, Vukic achieved his first top 50 win against Alexander Bublik[12] and reached his first ATP quarterfinal, before losing to Thanasi Kokkinakis.[13] As a result, he made his top 150 debut at world no. 144 on 17 January 2022.

Vukic was awarded a second wildcard into the 2022 Australian Open.[14] He defeated 30th seed Lloyd Harris in four sets for his first Grand Slam victory. He lost to fellow qualifier Radu Albot in the second round.

In February, he won his first title at the 2022 Bengaluru Open II. As a result, he reached the top 125 at world no. 118 on 21 February 2022.

At the 2022 Sofia Open he defeated Fabio Fognini and Fernando Verdasco to reach only his second ATP quarterfinal.[15]

2023-2024: First ATP final and Masters third round, top 50

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He qualified for the 2023 Australian Open where he lost to fellow qualifier Brandon Holt. At the 2023 Delray Beach Open he entered the main draw as lucky loser and won in the first round against qualifier Christopher Eubanks.

He qualified for his second Masters 1000 main draw in Indian Wells for a second time at this tournament. He also qualified for the 2023 Miami Open to make his debut at this Masters. He won his third professional title and the biggest of his career, a second Challenger at the 2023 Busan Open in South Korea, defeating top seed Max Purcell by retirement.[16] At the next Challenger, the 2023 Open de Oeiras II he reached again the final. As a result, he made his top 100 debut at world No. 95 in the rankings on 22 May 2023.[17] On his debut at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships he defeated Daniel Altmaier.[18]

At the 2023 Atlanta Open, he reached his first ATP semifinal, defeating fourth seed Yoshihito Nishioka and fifth seed Christopher Eubanks. He then defeated seventh seed Ugo Humbert to reach his first final at ATP Tour level. He reached the third round of a Masters 1000 for the first time at the 2023 Canadian Open as a lucky loser, defeating Borna Ćorić and Sebastian Korda. As a result, he reached the top 50 in the rankings on 14 August 2023.[19][20]

At the beginning of the European clay season at the 2024 Grand Prix Hassan II, he reached the quarterfinals defeating previous year runner-up Alexandre Müller, and then second seed Sebastian Ofner in a match with two tiebreaks lasting close to three hours. He made his debut at the 2024 Monte-Carlo Masters as a lucky loser replacing Jordan Thompson after his late withdrawal. At the beginning of grass court season, he reached the quarterfinals at the 2024 Libéma Open. Next, also as a lucky loser, he entered the main draw of the 2024 Eastbourne International and reached his second ATP semifinal with wins over Fabian Marozsan, third seed Alexander Bublik and Yoshihito Nishioka (who beat him in the qualifications).[21] He won again his first round match at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships over Sebastian Ofner in a five-setter saving a match point.[22]

At the 2024 Rolex Shanghai Masters, where Vukic qualified for the main draw, he defeated eight seed Casper Ruud for his career-best win and first top 10 win, to reach the third round at this level for the second time.[23]

ATP Tour finals

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Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

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Legend
Grand Slam (0–0)
ATP Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP 500 (0–0)
ATP 250 (0–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–1)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoor (0–1)
Indoor (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Jul 2023 Atlanta Open, United States ATP 250 Hard   Taylor Fritz 5–7, 7–6(7–5), 4–6

Record against top 10 players

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Vukic has a 1–6 record against record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.[24]

No. Player Rank Tournament Surface Rd Score AVR
2024
1.   Casper Ruud 9 Shanghai Masters, China Hard R2 6–4, 6–4 91

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures/World Tennis Tour finals

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Singles: 14 (3 titles, 11 runner-ups)

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Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (2–7)
ITF Futures/WTT (1–4)
Finals by surface
Hard (3–9)
Clay (0–2)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Aug 2015 Canada F6, Saskatoon Futures Hard   Matt Reid 6–7(12–14), 1–6
Win 1–1 Jul 2017 USA F25, Champaign, Illinois Futures Hard   Deiton Baughman 7–5, 4–6, 6–2
Loss 1–2 Aug 2017 Poland F9, Bydgoszcz Futures Clay   Mats Moraing 2–6, 5–7
Loss 1–3 Jul 2018 USA F19, Wichita, Kansas Futures Hard   Evgeny Karlovskiy 4–6, 4–6
Loss 1–4 Mar 2019 M25 Bakersfield, California WTT Hard   Jenson Brooksby 3–6, 1–6
Loss 1–5 Mar 2020 Monterrey Challenger Hard   Adrian Mannarino 1–6, 3–6
Loss 1–6 Nov 2021 Charlottesville Challenger Hard (i)   Stefan Kozlov 2–6, 3–6
Loss 1–7 Nov 2021 Champaign Challenger Hard (i)   Stefan Kozlov 7–5, 3–6, 4–6
Win 2–7 Feb 2022 Bangalore Challenger Hard   Dimitar Kuzmanov 6–4, 6–4
Loss 2–8 Nov 2022 Calgary Challenger Hard (i)   Dominik Koepfer 2–6, 4–6
Loss 2–9 Nov 2022 Champaign Challenger Hard (i)   Ben Shelton 6–0, 3–6, 2–6
Loss 2–10 Apr 2023 Seoul Challenger Hard   Bu Yunchaokete 6–7(4–7), 4–6
Win 3–10 May 2023 Busan Challenger Hard   Max Purcell 6–4, 1–0 ret.
Loss 3–11 May 2023 Oeiras Challenger Clay   Facundo Díaz Acosta 4–6, 3–6

Doubles: 3 (3 runner-ups)

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Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (0–2)
ITF Futures (0–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (0–2)
Grass (0–1)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Jun 2015 Serbia F2, Valjevo Futures Clay   Antoine Bellier   Libor Salaba
  Danilo Petrović
6–7(7–9), 4–6
Loss 0–2 Jul 2021 Poznań Challenger Clay   Karol Drzewiecki   Zdeněk Kolář
  Jiří Lehečka
4–6, 6–3, [5–10]
Loss 0–3 Jun 2023 Surbiton Challenger Grass   Alexei Popyrin   Liam Broady
  Johnny O'Mara
4–6, 7–5, [8–10]

Performance timelines

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles

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Current through the 2024 US Open.

Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 SR W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open Q1 Q3 1R 2R 1R 1R 0 / 4 1–4
French Open A 1R Q3 Q2 Q2 1R 0 / 1 0–2
Wimbledon A NH Q1 A 2R 2R 0 / 2 2–2
US Open A A A Q1 1R 1R 0 / 2 0–2
Win–loss 0–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–3 1–4 0 / 10 3–10
ATP Masters 1000 tournaments
Indian Wells Masters A A 2R Q2 1R 2R 0 / 3 2–3
Miami Open A A A Q1 1R 1R 0 / 2 0–2
Monte-Carlo Masters A A A A A 1R 0 / 1 0–1
Madrid Open A A A A A 1R 0 / 1 0–1
Italian Open A A A A A 2R 0 / 1 1–1
Canadian Open A A A A 3R Q1 0 / 1 2–1
Cincinnati Open A A A A A Q2 0 / 0 0–0
Shanghai Masters A A A A 2R 3R 0 / 2 3–2
Year-end ranking 273 196 156 132 62 $2,316,281

References

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  1. ^ "Vukic on Djokovic test: "I'm excited to see what all the fuss is about"". ATP Tour news. 9 March 2024.
  2. ^ "GETTING TO KNOW: ALEKSANDAR VUKIC". Tennis Australia. 17 January 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  3. ^ "ABOUT ALEKSANDAR VUKIC". W SPORTS AND MEDIA. 1 November 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Biggest Mover Vukic Vaults into Top 200". Tennis Australia. 10 March 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  5. ^ "Vukic's Winning Run Ends at Roland Garros". Tennis Australia. 29 September 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  6. ^ "Australians Chris O'Connell, Aleksander Vukic and Max Purcell achieved new milestones". Tennis Australia. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Thompson Advances at Great Ocean Road". Tennis Australia. 3 February 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  8. ^ "Qualifyig Draw Revealed for US Open". Tennis Australia. 24 August 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  9. ^ Leigh Rogers (20 September 2021). "Ranking Movers". Tennis Australia. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  10. ^ "Aleksandar Vukic qualifies at Indian Wells".
  11. ^ "Vukic sets all-Aussie second round at Indian Wells".
  12. ^ "Vukic Scores First Top Win 50 in Adelaide". Tennis Australia. 10 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  13. ^ "Kokkinakis Sets All Aussie QuarterFinal". Tennis Australia. 12 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  14. ^ "AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2022 MEN'S SINGLES WILDCARDS REVEALED". Tennis Australia. 8 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Ivashka Upsets Dimitrov, Sonego Races Through in Sofia".
  16. ^ "Vukic charging towards top 100 after title-winning run".
  17. ^ "Carlos Alcaraz Back to World No. 1, Mover of Week | ATP Tour | Tennis".
  18. ^ "Vukic scores breakthrough victory at Wimbledon 2023".
  19. ^ "Vukic's Grit & Drive Fuelled By Parents' 'Built From Scratch' Success". ATPTour. 8 August 2023.
  20. ^ "Vukic's sizzling summer continues in Toronto". Tennis.com.au. 10 August 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  21. ^ "ATP roundup: Aleksandar Vukic sinks No. 3 seed at Rothesay International". 26 June 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  22. ^ "VUKIC SAVES MATCH POINT IN EPIC FIRST-ROUND WIN AT WIMBLEDON 2024". 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  23. ^ "Shanghai high: Vukic stuns Ruud in career-best win". Tennis.com.au. 5 October 2024.
  24. ^ "Vukic vs Top 10". Tennis Abstract.
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