Thanasi Kokkinakis, Jordan Thompson, Rinky Hijikata, James Duckworth and Alexei Popyrin all posted straight-sets first-round wins at the Canadian Masters 1000 event.

Montreal, Canada, 8 August 2024 | Dan Imhoff

Thanasi Kokkinakis has ensured a clean sweep for the five Australians in first-round action at the Montreal Masters on Wednesday after beating Frenchman Gael Monfils in straight sets.

The 81^st-ranked qualifier eased past the world No.34 6-3 6-3 to set a second-round meeting with fourth seed Hubert Hurkacz, a player he fell to three times on hard courts last year.

It marked Kokkinakis’ first win at the Canadian Masters, a decade after he made his Masters 1000 debut as a qualifier in Toronto.

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Jordan Thompson, Alexei Popyrin, qualifier Rinky Hijikata and lucky loser James Duckworth also advanced in straight sets.

The in-form Thompson, who this week broke into the top 30 for the first time, saw off the 22-year-old world No.28 7-5 6-2 on an impressive day for his countrymen.

Thompson holds a 2-1 advantage in his record against world No.4 Zverev, having beaten him in the Los Cabos semifinal this year, en route to his maiden tour title, and in the round of 32 in Tokyo last year, while Zverev claimed their first meeting in Washington seven years ago.

World No.62 Popyrin also upstaged a higher-ranked opponent when he brought down 39^th-ranked Czech Thomas Machac 6-3 6-4.

Machac had little time to prepare for the switch to hard court, having arrived from the clay in Paris, where he picked up a mixed doubles gold and reached the men’s doubles semifinals.

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As the Czech served to stay in the match, play was suspended when a spectator collapsed in the stands. After the woman was seen to and play resumed, Popyrin maintained concentration to close it out a game later for a second-round showdown against 11^th seed Ben Shelton.

Shelton beat the 24-year-old on his way to a maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal at Melbourne Park last year.

In a battle of qualifiers, 74^th-ranked Hijikata snapped a four-match losing streak in ATP main draws to beat Japan’s Taro Daniel 6-1 7-5. The win set a meeting with seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov.

World No.80 Duckworth made the most of his lucky loser call-up for a 6-4 6-1 victory against 37^th ranked Marcos Giron.

It was his biggest win since he beat then No.14 Shelton at Stuttgart in June and locked in a first meeting with sixth seed Casper Ruud.