Duckworth into Brisbane quarter-finals, world’s top 100

Darren Walton | January 3, 2024

James Duckworth has gatecrashed the world’s top 100 again after charging into his first ATP Tour 250 quarter-final in 18 months.

Duckworth continued his impressive run from qualifying with a 4-6 6-1 7-6 (7-2) second-round victory over Yannick Hanfmann at the Brisbane International on Wednesday.

The 31-year-old’s plucky victory reversed a three-set loss to the German at the Shangha Masters in October and guaranteed at least one home hope in the last eight of the Australian Open lead-up event.

Fellow Australian Alexei Popyrin is also in action on Wednesday, while Rinky Hijikata, Jordan Thompson and Jason Kubler – up against the great Rafael Nadal – all return for second-round matches on Thursday.

Duckworth will play either Danish top seed Holger Rune or Russian Alexander Shevchenko for a place in the semi-finals.

Either way, the 31-year-old is guaranteed to rise at least 20 spots in the rankings next Monday from world No.116 to provisionally 96th.

Duckworth upset higher-ranked American JJ Wolf 6-3 6-4 in a first-round match initially scheduled for Monday morning but which didn’t start until Tuesday afternoon.