For the second straight year, Gustavus alumnus Eric Butorac ’03 has advanced to the quarterfinals of the men’s doubles draw at the Australian Open being played in Melbourne. The Australian Open is the first of four major tournaments on the Association of Tennis Professionals calendar.
Butorac, and doubles partner Jean-Julien Rojer of Curacao, defeated the Spanish tandem of David Marrero and Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-3, 6-4 in a third round match on Monday, Jan. 24 in Melbourne.
Butorac reached the quarterfinals of last year’s Australian Open with then partner Rajeev Ram before falling to the top seeded duo of Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan.
Butorac and Rojer defeated Andrey Golubev and Denis Istomin 6-7, 6-4, 6-0 in the first round before knocking out the 12th seeded team of Mark Knowles and Michal Mertinak 7-6, 6-0 in the second round.
Butorac and Rojer are the only unseeded team remaining in the men’s doubles draw. They will face the No. 4 seeded team of Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Oliver Marach of Austria in their quarterfinal match at 11 a.m. local time in Melbourne on Tuesday, Jan. 25. That means the match will start at 6 p.m. Central Standard Time on Monday, Jan. 24.
Butorac, a native of Rochester, Minn., is currently ranked No. 35 in the world in men’s doubles. He has nine ATP Tour doubles titles to his credit, including two with his current partner Rojer.
You can follow Butorac’s progress at the Australian Open online at australianopen.com.
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