Australia’s Nick Lindahl has won his way through qualifying by defeating top seed Xavier Malisse 6-1 7-6(2) at the Queensland Tennis Centre.
It’s been a good summer for Lindahl, who defeated Gold Coast prodigy Bernard Tomic in the final of the Australian Open Play-off to nab a precious wildcard into the upcoming Australian Open.
Lindahl, 21, will join fellow Australians Peter Luczak, Carsten Ball, Bernard Tomic and John Millman in the main draw.
The news wasn’t so good this morning for Australian Kaden Hensel who fell in the final round of qualifying to Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr, 7-6(1) 6-3.
In the remaining qualifying matches, Germany’s Julian Reister knocked out local Matt Reid 6-7(7) 6-1 7-5, while a battle of the Australians is currently underway between Matt Ebden easily accounted for Marinko Matosevic 6-2 6-2.
The first match on Pat Rafter Arena today finished with former top 10 Frenchman Richard Gasquet overcame fast finishing Finn Jarkko Nieminen, 6-3 4-6 6-4 in just over two hours.
The next match on Pat Rafter Arena is Australia’s Jelena Dokic versus former world No.1 Ana Ivanovic.