23-year-old Purcell won the biggest match of his career defeating ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada 6-4 7-6(2) on centre court.

It was only eight days ago that Purcell received a late call up to the Olympic Tennis team when Alex de Minaur was forced to withdraw after returning a positive Covid-19 test.

Today, Purcell received another phone call when two-time Olympic gold medallist Andy Murray withdrew with a quad strain, giving him a berth in the singles main draw.

Purcell is the first Australian man to score a top-20 singles win at an Olympic Games since Lleyton Hewitt’s second-round victory against Croatian Marin Cilic at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

“I found out at 10.55am this morning, I got told I was going to play third on centre court. So short notice on the big court and yeah, I loved every second of it,” Purcell said.

“I’ve kind of been hoping and praying that I’d be able to get a singles run over here because singles tournaments have been so few and far between this year, so it was kind of a relief because I’ve been loving my singles at the moment, and I’m lucky I get to play again.”

He joins James Duckworth and John Millman in the men’s second round, the first time since the Atlanta 1996 Games that three Australians have progressed beyond the first round in a men’s singles draw.

Earlier today, Duckworth defeated Lukas Klein 5-7 6-3 7-6(4) in a deciding tiebreaker.

“I’m really happy to have gotten a win. It was a tricky match. I was down a set and break and managed to fight back and get through a tough, close tiebreaker in that third set. I’m really excited to be in the second round,” Duckworth said.

“We both had been serving pretty well. I felt like I was the better player in the third set. I couldn’t quite sneak a break, all I was thinking was trying to take it one point at a time, make as many returns as possible and then on my serve land first serves, which I was able to do. I was able to get off to a good start in the tiebreak, serve well and hang on in the end.

“It’s exciting to win for my country. You don’t play with Australia on your back too often, and to get a win in this event is really cool,” Duckworth added.

The 29-year-old faces Wimbledon quarterfinalist Karen Khachanov of Russia in the next round.

Luke Saville also received a singles berth after Hungarian Marton Fucsovics was forced to withdraw due to a right shoulder injury. Saville fell to Polish seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz 6-2 6-4.

Meanwhile Ajla Tomljanovic advanced to the second round of singles after winning the first set before her opponent Yaroslava Shvedova was forced to retire.

“I’m super happy that I have another chance tomorrow but it’s always a little bittersweet because she retired and she was really struggling,” Tomljanovic said.

“I’m trying not to let it take away from my moment let’s say because it’s my Olympic debut, but I do feel for her."

Earlier in the day, world No.1 Ash Barty was knocked out of the women’s draw by Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo, 6-4 6-3.

"I’m disappointed I wasn’t able to get through," Barty said.

"It just wasn’t my day. Credit to Sara though, she is always a tough competitor. I never really felt comfortable out there and wasn’t able to play the match on my terms. The key to my game is serving well and I wasn’t able to do that. I was a bit erratic and made too many errors.

"The match was always going to be challenging. I felt like I had to be aggressive and she made me press and overplay."

In the doubles, five-time Olympian Sam Stosur and Ellen Perez defeated Latvian pair Jelena Ostapenko and Anastasija Sevastova. Australia’s top ranked doubles player John Peers and Purcell fell to American duo Austin Krajicek and Tennys Sandgren, as did John Millman and Saville to Austria’s Oliver Marach and Philipp Oswald.

Results

Women’s singles 

R64 Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP) d [1] Ashleigh Barty (AUS) 6-4 6-3

R64 Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) d Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 7-5 3-2 retired

Men’s singles 

R64 James Duckworth (AUS) d Lukas Klein (SVK) 5-7 6-3 7-6(4)

R64 [Alt] Max Purcell (AUS) d [9] Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) 6-4 7-6(2)

R64 [7] Hubert Hurkacz (POL) d [Alt] Luke Saville (AUS) 6-2 6-4

Women’s doubles 

R32 Sam Stosur (AUS) / Ellen Perez (AUS) d Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) / Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) 4-6 6-1 [10-5]

Men’s doubles 

R32 Oliver Marach (AUT) / Philipp Oswald (AUT) d John Millman (AUS) / Luke Saville (AUS) 7-5 6-2

R32 Austin Krajicek (USA) / Tennys Sandgren (USA) d John Peers (AUS) / Max Purcell (AUS) 3-6 7-6(5) [10-5]

Schedule of play – Monday 25 July 2021

Women’s singles

R32 Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) v [4] Elina Svitolina (UKR) – Court 2 third match

Men’s singles

R32 John Millman (AUS) v Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP) – Court 3 second match

R32 [Alt] Max Purcell (AUS) v Dominik Koepfer (GER) – Court 2 fourth match

Women’s doubles

R16 [6] Ashleigh Barty (AUS) / Storm Sanders (AUS) v Xu / Yang (CHN) – Court 4 last match

R16 Sam Stosur (AUS) / Ellen Perez (AUS) v Monica Niculescu (ROU) / Raluca-Ioana Olaru (ROU) – Court 5 third match  

Harriet Rendle