Aleksander Vukic, from football to victory against Alcaraz: who is Sinner's opponent

The Australian, number 93 in the ATP ranking, will face the Italian in the second round of the tournament

Jannik Sinner returns to the court at Wimbledon 2025 and today, Thursday 3 July , he faces Aleksandar Vukic in the second round of the tournament. The Australian, number 93 in the ranking , beat the Taiwanese Tseng Chun-hsin in the first round and comes to the match with the number one in the world with nothing to lose. From a historic success against Alcaraz to his past as a footballer, here is his story.

Who is Vukic, Sinner's opponent?

Vukic was born in Sydney on April 6, 1996, to parents who had emigrated from the war that was going on in Sarajevo at the time: "All adult males had to enlist - he found himself telling - but my father didn't want to get killed . So he ran away with my mother, getting a visa for Australia. They had a thousand dollars in their pockets, today they are computer engineers". Tennis was not his first sport, as Vukic grew up kicking a ball with the dream of becoming a footballer. Then, his brother Vladimir introduced him to the racket and his career slowly took off . In 2012 he made his debut in the first ITF tournaments, in 2017 his first triumph in a doubles tournament in the United States.

Vukic then approached college tennis in the States thanks to a stroke of luck, after meeting the scout Brad Dancer, who had the opportunity to see him in a Futures tournament in Florida. From there, 4 golden years began for him, with 108 victories and only 19 defeats in singles.

Vukic, the entrance in the ATP circuit

In January 2018, the Australian entered the ATP circuit, between one Challenger and another, and made his way up to the top 200. He participated in the first Slam, the Roland Garros , and in 2022 he won his first match in a Slam at the Australian Open . He then stopped due to an elbow injury, which slowed his growth, but slowly he started again and in 2023 he reached his best ranking, position number 48 in the ATP ranking .

Curiosity? Vukic beat Carlos Alcaraz once in 2020 , during the Roland Garros qualifiers. Last year, it was the Spaniard who ended his adventure on the grass at Wimbledon.

At the beginning of 2025 he experienced the best period of his career, after the success against Korda that earned him his first qualification to the third round of the Australian Open . This year he has won 12 matches, losing 21. Now the obstacle is called Sinner

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