After some early showers delayed the morning action, the players were keen to make up for lost time on the first day of men’s qualifying.
First up on Court 1, two Aussies took centre stage, with Matt Reid outlasting countryman Isaac Frost 7-5 6-2. Queenslander Gavin van Peperzeel was another to move beyond the first round following a narrow 7-6 7-5 win over Frenchman Emillien Firmin. In the opener on Court 2, American Jesse Levine defeated Serb Nikola Ciric 5-7 6-3 6-4.
Earlier in the day, a marathon encounter on Court 16 saw determined Gold Coast teenager Maverick Banes overcome equally strong-willed Colombian Alejandro Gonzalez. The 19-year-old struggled through a bad case of cramp late in the third set to record a gruelling 3-6 6-2 7-5 victory in a baseline dominated match.
Unfortunately Denys Molchanov was not quite so lucky injury-wise – he was forced to retire midway through the second set against Estonia’s Jurgen Zopp.
The battle of the headband-wearing heavy hitters, Igor Adreev and Amer Delic, went right down to the wire. Despite losing his serve in the last game of the second set, Andreev held his nerve in a see-sawing match, eventually getting over the line 6-4 5-7 7-6 in two and one quarter hours.
On the women’s side of the tournament, the second day of qualifying is already proving successful for the Russian contingent, with Nina Bratchikova’s 6-3 6-7 6-1 defeat of Greece’s Eleni Daniilidou setting the trend.
Vera Dushevina then tasted success in a straight sets 6-3 6-4 win over former world number 35 Karin Knapp, while Alexandra Panova triumphed by the same scoreline over Austrian Yvonne Meusburger.
There was good news for the Australian men, with Greg Jones, Luke Saville, Michael Look, Colin Ebelthite, Chris Guccione and John Millman all moving into the second round of qualifying.
Top three seeds Tobias Kamke, Igor Andreev and Tatsuma Ito all navigated the opening round successfully. On Sunday Kamke will face Australia’s Greg jones, while Andreev will face Matt Reid and Ito will play Luke Saville.
The final round of women’s qualifying and the men’s second round will be completed on Sunday.