Australian Open 2025 Day 6: Scores, updates and news from Melbourne Park
Two matches. Two deciding sets. Two Aussies eliminated. Jack Draper has claimed his latest Australian victim, this time the brave Aleksander Vukic. Recap day six here.
An Englishman with a thirst for five-set matches and breaking Australians hearts has struck again.
For the second consecutive match Jack Draper has come back from two sets to one down against a local hero to win, this time cutting down a gallant Aleksandar Vukic in a 3hr 58min epic 6-4 2-6 5-7 7-6 (5) 7-6 (8).
The No.15 seed looked on the brink a number of times but unfortunately Vukic couldn’t break the big left-hander who joined an elite list of players who have played three consecutive five-set matches to get through to the fourth round at Melbourne Park.
In the opening round he came back from two sets to one down against Mariano Navone and then in the second round Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis served for the match in the fourth set only to be worn down by Draper.
It was a similar story against Vukic who was in the box seat after closing out the third set and then pushing a tight fourth set to a tie-break.
But Draper, who came into the tournament with injury concerns having pulled out of the Hopman Cup, is a man of steel.
The 23-year-old continued to find reserves of strength at the right moments to force the match into a fifth set which fittingly went to a tie-break where at one stage the score was 7-7.
Eventually it was a typical big Draper serve which got him the match as the clock neared 1am on Margaret Court Arena.
“There were so many ebbs and flows, it was a great match,” Draper said. “I thought he (Vukic) was done (early in the fifth set) and then he just came back from the dead, it was incredible.
Nerves. Of. Steel 🥶
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 17, 2025
Jack Draper makes it a hat-trick of five-set wins at #AO2025! 🇬🇧@wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis • #AusOpenpic.twitter.com/4rWVhdhRDz
“It was a great battle between two competitors going at it, that’s what sport is all about.”
Draper now faces No.3 seed Carlos Alcaraz who he beat when they last played at Queens on grass last year.
“I don’t want to think about him yet, all I’m thinking about is my recovery,” the exhausted Englishman said.
Three times in the past two grand slams Draper has taken out Aussies, the streak starting with Alex de Minaur in the quarter-finals of last year’s US Open.
Vukic had also come through two five-set matches to start the week, coming back from two sets to one down to defeat Damir Dzumhur in the opening round and then upset No.22 seed Sebastian Kordan by doing the same thing, winning the fifth set 7-5.
Despite the shattering loss, the 28-year-old has a lot more fans now and in many ways this Australian Open has been his coming out parade.
Vukic didn’t come through the traditional pathway in Australia, instead plying his trade on the American college circuit at the University of Illinois.
He has continued to improve his game in recent times and cracked it inside the world top 50 for the first time in August last year.
His previous best performance at a grand slam was making the second round on three occasions, twice at Wimbledon and once at Melbourne Park as a wildcard in 2022.
There were no nerves initially for the biggest game of his career with Vukic jumping out of the blocks to break Draper’s opening service game.
But unfortunately he soon lost his way with the Brit winning four consecutive games to take the set.
The second set was a completely different story with Vukic jumping out to a 5-0 lead quickly to even the match.
What. On. Earth. Just. Happened 🤯
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 17, 2025
Aleksandar Vukic with a truly outrageous double play! 😲@wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis • #AusOpen • #AO2025pic.twitter.com/02DbjTmsaM
WIth both players dialling up their serves, the third set became an ace fest with Draper having 11 for the set when he went ahead 5-4.
Vukic was no slouch on the serve himself with his sixth ace of the set ensuring he evened things up at 5-5. Then out of nowhere Draper lost his radar with a double-fault giving the Australian the crucial break.
He was then forced to save two break points which had the Brit smashing his racquet on set point which earned him a warning from the umpire.
The incident didn’t distract Vukic who produced an ace to take the third set 7-5 after 45 minutes.
Both players produced enormous pressure saves on their serve during an epic fourth set which eventually ended in a tie-break which was also locked at 5-5 before Draper found a way to gain the advantage and stay alive.
That was only the entree to an even better fifth set which unfortunately followed a similar script, the British giant-killer taking out the hometown hero.
Follow how the action unfolded in our rolling coverage below.
Originally published as Australian Open 2025 Day 6: Scores, updates and news from Melbourne Park
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