Double Aussie blow as Vukic, Hijikata lose in Madrid

The Sydney duo of Aleksandar Vukic and Rinky Hijikata have both crashed out of the Madrid Open on a deflating day for the Australian challenge at the celebrated Caja Magica clay-court venue in the Spanish capital.

After the news of home favourite Carlos Alcaraz's withdrawal from the tournament to protect an injury left the home fans deflated, the resurgence of one of Madrid's old favourites, Kei Nishikori, at least gave them something to smile about in the "Magic Box" on Thursday.

Not Vukic, though. The Australian No.4 found himself on the wrong end of history as he succumbed 6-4 3-6 6-3 to Nishikori, which marked the Japanese veteran's 450th victory at tour-level in his distinguished career.

"Probably 10... I have terrible memory" 😂🎤@keinishikori | @MutuaMadridOpen | #MMOpen pic.twitter.com/fsmIlvq3FJ— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 24, 2025

"I had no idea," the 35-year-old admitted, after being told of his milestone. "It's a lot, yes ... I have played for 18 years now, and hopefully I can reach 500 wins.

"This one was a long, tough match, I enjoyed it," he added, though Vukic was hardly likely to have shared the sentiment after suffering his 10th straight defeat in what's turning out to be a wretched season for the 29-year-old world No.83.

His last eight matches have all ended with him losing in a deciding set and he hasn't enjoyed a winning handshake since beating Bjorn Borg's son Leo in the Davis Cup back in Stockholm in January.

Special day for Kei! 👏@keinishikori becomes the 8th active player to reach this well-earned milestone@MutuaMadridOpen | #MMOpen pic.twitter.com/BqhuFVixwI— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 24, 2025

Hijikata's not having the best of times either as the world No.84 fell 7-5 7-5 in his opening-round clash to giant American Reilly Opelka, the biggest man on the circuit at 211cm and 102kg, for a fourth-straight defeat in a month.

Australia's big guns will enter the men's main draw over the next couple of days, with sixth seed Alex de Minaur set to face Italian Lorenzo Sonego on Saturday after the Italian beat Serbia's Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4 7-6 (7-5).

On Friday, Alexei Popyrin, the No.25 seed, will be up against the unpredictable Kazakh Alexander Bublik, who's fresh off a good win over rising American Alex Michelsen 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4).

Chris O'Connell will also be in action on Friday, facing a daunting second-round encounter with third seed Taylor Fritz, the US Open finalist.

Alcaraz's withdrawal has robbed the tournament of its principal attraction but the two-time Madrid champion stressed he had to pull out because he didn't want to aggravate leg muscle injuries, which had flared up in his Barcelona Open final defeat last week.

"You have to hear your body sometimes. I will come back stronger," he vowed, determined to be fit for his French Open title defence in a month's time.

In his absence, there's huge interest in the exciting 18-year-old Brazilian, Joao Fonseca, and the youngster let down no-one as he steamrolled Elmer Moller 6-2 6-3 to set up a second-round date with American 11th seed Tommy Paul.