The men’s qualifying event got underway on Saturday, while the women played their second round of qualifying at the Queensland Tennis Centre.
Fifth seed Rhyne Williams (pictured) out-muscled John-Patrick Smith in straight sets, 6-4 6-4, to move through to the second round here he will face China’s Di Wu in the second round after Wu knocked out Australian wildcard Brad Mousley 6-2 7-5.
Matt Reid, Andrew Whittington, Matthew Barton, Gavin van Peperzeel and Omar Jasika were all defeated, the only Australian male to make it through to the second round was Thanasi Kokkinakis who was too strong for Jasika.
Top seed Andrey Golubev, who needed three sets to dispose of Whittington, will be hoping for an easier match when he takes on Kokkinakis in the second round.
Bradley Klahn and Ryan Harrison, the second and third seeds respectively, are also both still in the running for one of the final four spots in the men’s main draw.
The news was better for the Australians in the women’s qualifying with Jarmila Gajdosova and Ashleigh Barty both winning in straight sets.
Gajdosova needed just over an hour to complete a 6-3 6-1 victory over seventh-seeded Brazilian Teliana Pereira. For Gajdosova, who needed a wildcard just to get into the qualifying event, it’s another step back to the top 100.
“I’m feeling physically somewhat decent, I don’t feel too bad after yesterday but I think I still have a long way to go before I feel [like] my old self. But I think you can see some improvements and the odd glimpse of the old me,” she said after the match.
“I always like playing in Brisbane for some reason – the conditions suit me.”
“At this stage I’m just happy to get the matches under my belt and improve my game and recover physically as well as I can – every match is a bonus for me.”
Gajdosova’s next opponent will be Brit Heather Watson who upset second seed Chanelle Scheepers 6-2 3-6 6-0.
In other matches, third seed Su-Wei Hsieh survived a scare to defeat wildcard Storm Sanders, Kiki Bertens accounted for Victoria Duval and young Australian Ashleigh Barty’s good run of form continued with a solid 6-3 6-2 upset of sixth seed Julia Glushko.
Barty will face fourth-seeded Bertens for a spot in the main draw, Hsieh will take on Alexandra Panova, and Anastasia Rodionova will play Alla Kudryavtseva.
The final round of women’s qualifying and second round of men’s qualifying will be played on Sunday alongside some main draw matches.
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