Australian veteran James Duckworth upsets second seed to reach Almaty Open quarterfinals
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The gist
Australian tennis veteran James Duckworth beat second seed Luciano Darderi 7-5 7-6(7) to reach the Almaty Open quarterfinals.
The 34-year-old, ranked No.73, now faces Stefanos Tsitsipas in Friday's last eight.
Background
James Duckworth is a 34-year-old Australian tennis veteran ranked No.73 and Australia's No.2 men's player behind Alex de Minaur; he turned professional in 2010 and reached a career-high No.46 in January 2022. The Almaty Open is an ATP 250 indoor hard-court event in Kazakhstan, where Duckworth reached the semifinals in 2025 and the only ATP final of his career in 2021, when the event was held in Astana. He arrived in Almaty having lost four matches in a row, after reaching the Winston-Salem semifinals in August.
How it unfolded
- Aug 31, 2026Duckworth beat Matteo Arnaldi 5-7 6-3 6-2 7-6 in the US Open first round in New York.
- Sep 2, 2026He lost to China's Yibing Wu 5-7 3-6 1-6 in the US Open second round.
- Sep 24, 2026He lost to Italy's Lorenzo Sonego 4-6 4-6 in the Chengdu Open third round.
- Oct 8, 2026He lost to Poland's Hubert Hurkacz 3-6 6-7 in the first round of the Rolex Shanghai Masters.
- Oct 19, 2026He beat Serbia's Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4 6-3 in the Almaty Open third round.
- Oct 21, 2026He beat second seed Luciano Darderi, world No.23, 7-5 7-6(7) to reach the quarterfinals.
- Oct 22, 2026He was reported at world No.68 in the live rankings, Australia's No.2 men's player, and scheduled to face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinal on Friday at 1:00 pm on Center Court.
Who’s saying what
- Player
- Duckworth said he knew he had to play aggressively against Kecmanovic and not let him dictate, and that he did a good job of taking his chances.
- Player
- Duckworth said the Almaty tournament is unbelievable, that players are well looked after, and that the indoor conditions at a little altitude suit him as some of the best for his game.