On another sweltering Brisbane day, Australians shone through in the qualifying draw with Bojana Bobusic, John Millman, and James Duckworth all winners on Saturday.
Wildcard Bobusic moved one step closer to a Brisbane main draw berth after beating Italian Karin Knapp in her second consecutive three-set match—the 25-year-old showing more of the impressive form that won her the Australian Open Playoff earlier this month.
Bobusic will now play for a spot in the main draw against sixth seed Kristyna Pliskova, who is yet to drop a set during qualifying after downing Spain’s Estrella Cabeza Candela on Saturday.
In two first-round showdowns between Aussie young guns, it was the experienced statesmen who came out on top, with John Millman schooling 18-year-old Luke Saville 6-2 6-2 and James Duckworth proving his form with a 6-1, 7-6(4) victory over under-18 champion Nick Kyrgios.
Duckworth—who made the second round of the main draw last year—will face off against Russian Igor Kunitsyn in round two, after the former world No.35 outlasted top seed Gilles Muller in three sets on Saturday, while Millman will take on Russian No.8 seed Alex Bogomolov Jr.
It was a case of missed opportunities for the remaining Australian wildcards, with New South Welshman Matt Reid and Townsville local John-Patrick Smith stumbling at the final hurdle in tight three-set losses.
Americans caused heartache for the men’s seeds in round one with Donald Young upsetting experienced Belgian third seed Olivier Rochus, while sixth seed Thiemo De Bakker fell to American Steve Johnson in straight sets.
Second seed Ryan Harrison went through unscathed in a 6-3 6-2 victory over Ukrainian Igor Sergeyev, while Lithuanian fifth-seed Ricardas Berankis fought from a break down in the second set to claim a tough 7-5, 7-6(3) victory over German Dominik Meffert.
In the women’s draw, top-seeded American Vania King continued to prove her kinship with the Australian sun, overcoming Russia’s Daria Gavrilova 7-6 6-7 6-2 in three hours and six minutes in the sweltering heat, clocking up her second straight three-set match in as many days.
King will now play fifth seed Ksenia Pervak for a spot in the main draw, after the Kazakhstani scored a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Russian Marta Sirotkina in 1h and 33mins.
Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig and Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko also won through in three-set matches, while American Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and seventh seed Olga Puchkova took the remaining spots with straight-set wins.