James Duckworth

Duckworth at the2023 Wimbledon Championships
Country (sports)	Australia
Residence	Sydney
Born	(1992-01-21)21 January 1992 (age 33)[1] Sydney, Australia
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Turned pro	2010
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Coach	Wayne Arthurs
Prize money	US $ 4,459,413[2]
Singles
Career record	73–120
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 46 (31 January 2022)
Current ranking	No. 108 (20 October 2025)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	2R (2012,2013,2015,2021,2025)
French Open	2R (2021)
Wimbledon	3R (2021)
US Open	2R (2016,2022)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	2R (2021)
Doubles
Career record	16–36
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 185 (2 October 2020)
Current ranking	No. 311 (30 June 2025)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	QF (2020)
French Open	2R (2025)
Wimbledon	1R (2022)
US Open	1R (2021)
Last updated on: 30 June 2025.

James Duckworth (born 21 January 1992) is an Australian professionaltennis player. He has a career-highATP singles ranking of World No. 46 achieved on 31 January 2022 and No. 185 in doubles achieved on 10 February 2020. Duckworth represented Australia intennis at the2020 Tokyo Olympics and the2022 ATP Cup.

As a junior, Duckworth enjoyed a successful career which included winning three titles and reaching the semifinals of the2010 French Open.

Duckworth was born in Sydney. He attendedSydney Church of England Grammar School, where he was on the school tennis first team from Year 7 and went on to win several AAGPS Premierships. He was offered a scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport, where he was able to further develop his tennis. Duckworth is a keen supporter of theNewcastle Knights in theNational Rugby League.^[3]

Duckworth played his first ITF under-18 tournament in December 2005 as a 13-year-old, the event was held inPerth and Duckworth lost in the first round to Sebastian Bell. Duckworth's first big result came in December 2007 when he made his first final in Manila, Philippines but had to retire in the third set againstFrancis Casey Alcantara. Duckworth's first title came in August 2010 at the Oceania Closed Championship held inFiji, he beat fellow Australian Maverick Banes in the final. Out of the nine junior tournaments Duckworth entered in 2010 he managed to reach three finals that resulted in two titles won in Kuching, Malaysia and Manila, Philippines respectively. Duckworth's best junior result came at2010 Roland Garros Junior Championships where he reached the semi-finals. He reached as high as No. 7 in the combined world rankings in July 2010.

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
1.	21 August 2010	Lautoka	Hard	Maverick Banes	6–4, 6–4
2.	21 March 2011	Kuching	Hard	Andrew Whittington	6–4, 4–6, 6–4
3.	28 March 2011	Manila	Hard	Tobias Blomgren	6–3, 6–2

Duckworth entered his first professional tournament in September 2006 as a 14-year-old inHappy Valley, South Australia where he was defeated in the first round of qualifying. He entered his second pro tournament in September 2007; the event was held inSawtell, New South Wales, and Duckworth made it to the final round of qualifying, but fell at the last hurdle. In November 2008, Duckworth received a wildcard into a Futures tournament held inPerth and made the most of his opportunity; he recorded his first main draw victory in the first round. He followed up the victory with a surprise win over the fifth seed. In the quarterfinals, he fell to fourth seed and eventual championAndrew Coelho. The following week, Duckworth received another wildcard into an event held inSorrento, Western Australia, but could not keep the form going as he fell in the first round toJames Lemke. Despite entering four Australian Futures toward the end of 2009, Duckworth only won one match and finished 2009 ranked no. 1712.^[4]

The 2010 season began for Duckworth with a qualifying wildcard into his hometown ATP event in Sydney where he lost in the first round to fellow AustralianMarinko Matosevic 1–6, 3–6. He also received a wildcard into the qualifying tournament of the2010 Australian Open but fell in the first round toSomdev Devvarman 2–6, 1–6. While not competing in junior tournaments Duckworth played several futures tournaments held in Australia, Netherlands, USA and New Zealand. His best result came in November when he reached the semi-finals of a futures tournament held in New Zealand. Duckworth finished the year ranked 742 in the ATP rankings.

Duckworth began the year playing in the2011 Brisbane International and the2011 Australian Open qualifying tournaments after receiving wildcards into each event. Following the Australian summer series of tournaments Duckworth headed to Europe in hopes of boosting his ranking. Duckworth's choice of tournaments would prove successful with four titles and two runners-up in tournaments held across Poland and Italy.^[1]

His latest futures title was in Este Padova where he defeated AustralianJason Kubler en route to the final againstDaniele Giorgini. These results enabled him to enter the top 300 on 29 August 2011 and he became one of Australia's top 10 players.^[5] Duckworth capped off the year by reaching the final of the 2012 Australian Open Men's Wildcard Playoff, falling toMarinko Matosevic 6–4, 6–1, 6–2.^[6]

Following a successful 2011 season Duckworth was granted main draw wildcards into the Brisbane International, Apia International Sydney and the Australian Open. in January 2012, in the first round of his first ATP main-draw event at the2012 Brisbane International Duckworth drew FrenchmanNicolas Mahut. After trailing 0–4 in the first set Duckworth came back and won his first ever ATP match 6–4, 6–4. In the second round of Brisbane Duckworth fell to world no. 12Gilles Simon 3–6, 5–7 onPat Rafter Arena. In the2012 Apia International Sydney Duckworth fell to qualifier and eventual championJarkko Nieminen 2–6, 2–6.

On his Grand Slam debut at the2012 Australian Open, Duckworth drew EstonianJürgen Zopp in the first round and came out victorious in straight sets 6–3, 6–4, 6–4. In the second round Duckworth faced world number 9Janko Tipsarević and got off to a quick start taking the first set. Duckworth would eventually lose in four sets 6–3, 2–6, 6–7, 4–6. Following the Australian Open Duckworth entered the Burnie Challenger where he was a first round casualty toBen Mitchell 6–4, 3–6, 4–6. A week later Duckworth was seeded third in the Caloundra challenger and lived up to his seeding by reaching his first ever challenger semi-final. He was defeated by eventual championMarinko Matosevic in the semi-finals 6–7, 3–6.

Duckworth started his year at the2013 Brisbane International where he lost in the second round of qualifying. He then played in the2013 Apia International Sydney, where as a wildcard he almost made an upset against world No. 46Denis Istomin 7–6⁽⁴⁾, 4–6, 6–7⁽³⁾.Duckworth then played in the2013 Australian Open after receiving a wildcard. He defeated fellow Australian and good friendBen Mitchell in the first round 6–4, 7–6⁽⁸⁾, 4–6, 5–7, 8–6. He then played another long five set match in the second round, losing to world number 93 playerBlaž Kavčič 6–3, 3–6, 4–6, 7–6⁽³⁾, 8–10.^[7] After two first round losses againstJames Ward at the2013 McDonald's Burnie International and theCharles Sturt Adelaide International, Duckworth reached the final of the Australia F1 Futures inMelbourne going down againstStéphane Robert 6–7⁽³⁾, 3–6. Duckworth then competed in the2013 Nature's Way Sydney Tennis International losing to compatriotSamuel Groth in the quarterfinals 6–7⁽²⁾, 6–7⁽⁵⁾.

Duckworth reached the second round at the2013 All Japan Indoor Tennis Championships after defeatingJose Rubin Statham 6–4, 4–6, 6–3. He went down to second seedMarco Chiudinelli 6–7⁽⁵⁾, 7–6⁽⁷⁾, 2–6. Duckworth returned to Australia to compete in the Australia F5 tournament inBundaberg. He reached the final and won it defeatingJason Kubler 7–6⁽⁹⁾, 6–2. This was his fifth ITF title and his first in Australia.

After qualifying, Duckworth lost toBlaž Kavčič in the first round of the2013 French Open.AtWimbledon, Duckworth progressed through qualifying again, but lost in the first round to fellow qualifierDenis Kudla in 5 sets. He made his top 150 debut on 12 August 2013.In October, Duckworth made the semi-finals ofMelbourne Challenger, which improved his ranking to a career high of No. 132.

Duckworth started his year at the2014 Brisbane International after being awarded a wildcard. He was defeated in round 1 byJarkko Nieminen^[8]

On 8 January, Duckworth was awarded a wild card into the2014 Australian Open. His first round opponent wasRoger Federer. He lost in straight sets.^[9]

In April, Duckworth reached the final of theCachantún Cup. This was his secondChallenger final, but lost toThiemo de Bakker. Duckworth qualified for the2014 French Open but lost in round one toLeonardo Mayer. In June, Duckworth qualified for the2014 Aegon Championships and made round 2, where he lost in a close three-set match against the No. 2 seed,Tomáš Berdych, 4–6 in the third set. Duckworth qualified for2014 Wimbledon Championships and in the first round ledRichard Gasquet 2 sets to 1, before ultimately losing in five sets.

In July, Duckworth competed in theLexington Challenger where he defeated countrymenJordan Thompson in the second round andThanasi Kokkinakis in the semifinal. He defeated BritJames Ward, 6–3, 6–4 in the final to win his first Challenger Title.

Duckworth was beaten in second round of qualifying at theUS Open. In November, Duckworth made the final of the2014 Charlottesville Challenger. He defeated BritLiam Broady in the final on 2 November, this was his second career Challenger tour title. Duckworth finished 2014 with a career-high ranking of No.127.

As with the previous three years, Duckworth commenced his season at the2015 Brisbane International after being awarded a wild card. In round 1, he caused an upset, defeating world no.21Gilles Simon, 6–2, 6–2. He then defeatedJarkko Nieminen reaching the quarter-finals in anATP Tour event for the first time in his career.^[10] But then he lost toRoger Federer in straight sets 0–6, 1–6.^[11]Duckworth was given a wild card into the2015 Australian Open, where he defeatedBlaž Kavčič in round 1 but lost to the 24th seedRichard Gasquet in the second round. In February, Duckworth was the no.1 seed at theDelhi Challenger andKolkata Challenger. He lost in round 2 at Delhi and lost in the final of Kolkata toRadu Albot.AtIndian Wells, Duckworth qualified and defeatedDominic Thiem in round 1 before losing toFernando Verdasco, as a result of his performance, he secured a top 100 ATP ranking for the first time in his career on 23 March 2015.^[12] Duckworth then qualified for the2015 Miami Open and reached the second round where he again lost to Verdasco. He then returned to the challenger tour playing inSan Luis,Anning andBordeaux where he lost in the semi-finals, quarter-finals and second round respectively. Duckworth then played in the Tour 250 event inNice where he defeated lucky losersFrances Tiafoe andQuentin Halys to reach his secondATP tour quarterfinal of 2015 and his career. He then lost toBorna Ćorić in straight sets. AtWimbledon, Duckworth came back from 2 sets to 0 down againMalek Jaziri to win in five sets, posting his first win at Wimbledon.^[13] He lost to compatriotSam Groth in round 2.^[14]At theUS Open, Duckworth lost in round 1 toHyeon Chung in straight sets. He played a number of challenger events to finish the season making the quarter finals inHo Chi Minh,Ningbo andKnoxville. Duckworth ended the year with a ranking of World No. 120.

Duckworth again commenced the year at the2016 Brisbane International, but lost in the first round toDominic Thiem.^[15] He played doubles withChris Guccione where they made the final losing toHenri Kontinen andJohn Peers. Duckworth was awarded a wild card intoSydney, where he defeatedÍñigo Cervantes and lost toJérémy Chardy in round 2. At the2016 Australian Open, Duckwork lost toLleyton Hewitt in the first round as a wildcard. Duckworth tore a flexor tendon in his right elbow after the Australian Open, he then broke his left wrist doing sprints and sidelined Duckworth for four months. His ranking dropped to outside the top 200.^[16]

He returned to play in May and won the China F6 inWuhan andBangkok Challenger. Duckworth's grass season was unsuccessful, winning just one match in qualifying. In July, Duckworth qualified for the main draw at the2016 Citi Open, losing in the second round to the top seed,John Isner. Duckworth lost in the final round of qualifying forRogers Cup and again inAtlanta Open, both in final set tie-breaks. At theUS Open, Duckworth was awarded a wildcard. He defeatedRobin Haase in the first round. In November, Duckworth won his second and thirdChallenger titles of the year, defeating compatriot and maiden finalistMarc Polmans in Canberra andTatsuma Ito in Japan.^[17] Duckworth ended the year with a ranking of World No. 103.

Duckworth commenced the season at the2017 Australian Open where he received direct entry for the first time in his career. He lost toPaolo Lorenzi in round 1.^[18] Shortly after the loss, Duckworth underwent a foot surgery.^[19] Duckworth didn't play again in 2017, ending the year with a ranking of 992.

In January, Duckworth attempted to play theBrisbane International andAustralian Open, falling in qualifying in both. Duckworth next played theFrench Open losing toMarin Čilić in round 1. In June, Duckworth reached and retired in the final of the ITF Turkey F22.

Duckworth lost toAlexander Zverev in the first round ofWimbledon. In July Duckworth won his first match on the ATP World Tour in over 18 months at the2018 Citi Open.^[20] Duckworth lost toAndy Murray in the first round of theUS Open.^[21] Immediately after the US Open, Duckworth qualified for and won theCary Challenger. This was his first title in 2 years.^[22] Duckworth ended 2018 with an ATP singles rank of 234.

In January, Duckworth lost in the first round of theBrisbane International,Sydney International andAustralian Open after getting a sixth wildcard, before returning to the Asian challenger tour, winning the2019 Bangkok Challenger II.

In May, Duckworth lost in the first round of qualifying for the2019 French Open and in June, the second round of qualifying at Wimbledon. In July, Duckworth returned to the challenger tour in Asian challenger tour reaching the final of theYokkaichi Challenger and winningBaotou. At year-end he returned to the top 100 on 18 November 2019.

In February 2020, Duckworth reached his firstATP Tour semi-final inPune, India, losing toEgor Gerasimov in straight sets.^[23] Also in February, Duckworth won the2020 Bengaluru Challenger; his eleventh singles Challenger title.^[24] As a result, he reached a career-high ranking of No. 71 on 17 February 2020.

Following the tennis shutdown, due to the Covid pandemic, Duckworth lost in the first round of theUS Open andFrench Open. Duckworth ended 2020 with an ATP singles rank of No. 103.

Duckworth commenced the 2021 season at the2021 Murray River Open where he defeatedUgo Humbert his first win over a top-50 opponent in more than four years.^[25] He also reached the second round at the2021 Australian Open for a fourth time defeating lucky loserDamir Džumhur. In March, at the2021 Miami Open he reached the third round of a Masters 1000 for the first time in his career defeating 8th seedDavid Goffin for his first top-20 win. In May, at the2021 French Open, he reached the second round for the first time in his career in six attempts defeatingSalvatore Caruso.

In June, Duckworth scored his first top-50 win on grass, againstAdrian Mannarino at theStuttgart Open.^[26] At the2021 Wimbledon Championships Duckworth reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career defeatingSam Querrey, which came in his 25th Grand Slam main draw.^[27][28]

In July, Duckworth represented Australia at the2020 Summer Olympics, where he recorded his first win againstLukáš Klein. He was defeated by 12th seedKaren Khachanov in the second round.^[29] In August, Duckworth qualified for theCanada Open and defeated world number 15Jannik Sinner to reach the third round. It was the second top-20 win of Duckworth's career.^[30][31] As a result, he entered the top 70. In September, Duckworth won the2021 Amex-Istanbul Challenger II and achieved a career high singles ranking of World No. 65 on 20 September 2021.^[32]

Duckworth also reached his first ATP final at theAstana Open after beatingMikhail Kukushkin, 4th seedFilip Krajinović, 5th seed and defending championJohn Millman and 8th seedIlya Ivashka. He lost toKwon Soon-woo in straight sets after holding 3 set points, leading 6–3 in the first set tie-break. As a result, he reached a career-high of World No. 56 on 27 September 2021.^[33] At the2021 Rolex Paris Masters he reached the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 for the first time having never passed beyond the third round at this level. He defeated 14th seedRoberto Bautista Agut, his third top-20 win for the season and in his career,^[34]Lorenzo Musetti and fellow AustralianAlexei Popyrin en route. As a result, he reached the top 50 in the singles rankings at World No. 47 on 8 November for the first time in his career. Duckworth ended 2021 with a ranking of No. 49.

Although he reached the quarterfinals at the2022 San Diego Open defeating compatriotAlexei Popyrin andMitchell Krueger, he fell out of the top 100 on 26 September 2022 to No. 109.^[35]

He qualified for his first Masters of 2023 inShanghai. He won his 13th title at the new2023 Shenzhen Luohu Challenger making him the Australian singles player with the most titles in ATP Challenger Tour history.^[36]

Following his good results in the 2023 season, he received a wildcard for his home Slam, the2024 Australian Open.^[37]He reached the quarterfinals of his home warm-up AO tournament at the2024 Brisbane International as a qualifier and returned to the top 100 on 8 January 2024.^[38]

Ranked No. 78, he entered the main draw of the2024 Wimbledon Championships as a lucky loser.

Current through the2025 US Open.

Result	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	Sep 2021	Astana Open, Kazakhstan	250 Series	Hard (i)	Kwon Soon-woo	6–7(6–8), 3–6

Result	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	Jan 2016	Brisbane International, Australia	250 Series	Hard	Chris Guccione	Henri Kontinen John Peers	6–7(4–7), 1–6

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	May 2011	Poland F1,Kraków	Futures	Clay	Grzegorz Panfil	6–3, 6–4
Loss	1–1	May 2011	Poland F2,Katowice	Futures	Clay	Marcin Gawron	4–6, 2–6
Win	2–1	Jun 2011	Poland F4,Bytom	Futures	Clay	Peter Torebko	6–3, 3–6, 6–4
Loss	2–2	Jul 2011	Italy F16,Bologna	Futures	Clay	Daniele Giorgini	6–7(4–7), 6–7(3–7)
Win	3–2	Jul 2011	Italy F17,Sassuolo	Futures	Clay	Thomas Fabbiano	6–1, 6–2
Win	4–2	Aug 2011	Italy F23,Este	Futures	Clay	Daniele Giorgini	6–2, 6–3
Loss	4–3	Feb 2013	Australia F1,Melbourne	Futures	Hard	Stéphane Robert	6–7(3–7), 3–6
Win	5–3	Mar 2013	Australia F5,Bundaberg	Futures	Clay	Jason Kubler	7–6(11–9), 6–2
Win	6–3	May 2013	Chile F3,Santiago	Futures	Clay	Cristian Garín	6–1, 6–3
Loss	6–4	Jul 2013	Lexington, USA	Challenger	Hard	James Ward	6–4, 3–6, 4–6
Loss	6–5	Apr 2014	Santiago, Chile	Challenger	Clay	Thiemo de Bakker	6–4, 6–7(10–12), 1–6
Win	7–5	Jul 2014	Lexington, USA	Challenger	Hard	James Ward	6–3, 6–4
Win	8–5	Nov 2014	Charlottesville, USA	Challenger	Hard (i)	Liam Broady	5–7, 6–3, 6–2
Loss	8–6	Feb 2015	Kolkata, India	Challenger	Hard	Radu Albot	6–7(0–7), 1–6
Win	9–6	May 2016	China F6,Wuhan	Futures	Hard	Yusuke Takahashi	6–3, 6–2
Win	10–6	May 2016	Bangkok, Thailand	Challenger	Hard	Sam Barry	7–6(7–5), 6–4
Win	11–6	Nov 2016	Canberra, Australia	Challenger	Hard	Marc Polmans	7–5, 6–3
Loss	11–7	Nov 2016	Kobe, Japan	Challenger	Hard (i)	Chung Hyeon	4–6, 6–7(2–7)
Win	12–7	Nov 2016	Toyota, Japan	Challenger	Carpet (i)	Tatsuma Ito	7–5, 4–6, 6–1
Loss	12–8	Jun 2018	Turkey F22,Antalya	Futures	Clay	Thomas Statzberger	3–6, 0–1 ret.
Win	13–8	Sep 2018	Cary, USA	Challenger	Hard	Reilly Opelka	7–6(7–4), 6–3
Win	14–8	Feb 2019	Bangkok, Thailand	Challenger	Hard	Alejandro Davidovich Fokina	6–4, 6–3
Loss	14–9	Aug 2019	Yokkaichi, Japan	Challenger	Hard	Yūichi Sugita	6–3, 3–6, 6–7(1–7)
Win	15–9	Aug 2019	Baotou, China	Challenger	Clay (i)	Sasikumar Mukund	6–4, 6–3
Loss	15–10	Oct 2019	Las Vegas, USA	Challenger	Hard	Vasek Pospisil	5–7, 7–6(13–11), 3–6
Win	16–10	Nov 2019	Playford, Australia	Challenger	Hard	Yasutaka Uchiyama	7–6(7–2), 6–4
Win	17–10	Nov 2019	Pune, India	Challenger	Hard	Jay Clarke	4–6, 6–4, 6–4
Win	18–10	Feb 2020	Bangalore, India	Challenger	Hard	Benjamin Bonzi	6–4, 6–4
Win	19–10	Sep 2021	Istanbul, Turkey	Challenger	Hard	Wu Tung-lin	6–4, 6–2
Loss	19–11	Sep 2022	Cassis, France	Challenger	Hard	Hugo Grenier	5–7, 4–6
Loss	19–12	Feb 2023	Burnie, Australia	Challenger	Hard	Rinky Hijikata	3–6, 3–6
Loss	19–13	Feb 2023	Bangalore, India	Challenger	Hard	Max Purcell	6–3, 5–7, 6–7(5–7)
Loss	19–14	Apr 2023	Cuernavaca, Mexico	Challenger	Hard	Thiago Agustín Tirante	5–7, 0–6
Win	20–14	Oct 2023	Shenzhen, China	Challenger	Hard	Coleman Wong	6–0, 6–1
Win	21–14	Oct 2023	Playford, Australia	Challenger	Hard	Coleman Wong	7–5, 7–5
Loss	21–15	Nov 2023	Drummondville, Canada	Challenger	Hard (i)	Zizou Bergs	4–6, 5–7
Loss	21–16	Apr 2024	Shenzhen, China	Challenger	Hard	Lloyd Harris	3–6, 3–6
Win	22–16	Oct 2024	Hangzhou, China	Challenger	Hard	Mackenzie McDonald	2–6, 7–6(7–5), 6–4
Loss	22–17	Mar 2025	Morelia, Mexico	Challenger	Hard	Dmitry Popko	6-1, 2–6, 4–6
Win	23–17	Apr 2025	San Luis Potosi, Mexico	Challenger	Clay	Max Wiskandt	6–1, 6–1

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Feb 2013	West Lakes, Australia	Challenger	Hard	Greg Jones	Sam Groth Matt Reid	2–6, 4–6
Win	1–1	Apr 2013	Itajaí, Brazil	Challenger	Clay	Pierre-Hugues Herbert	Guilherme Clezar Fabrício Neis	7–5, 6–2
Loss	1–2	Feb 2015	Kolkata, India	Challenger	Hard	Luke Saville	Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan Somdev Devvarman	walkover

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