Soon-to-be retired John Millman will live to fight another day as he was one of eight Aussies to cement victory during today’s qualifying action.
Show Court 3 was arguably the place to be, playing host to four Australians throughout the day session.
Three teenagers would have a golden opportunity to further enhance their names, whilst there were familiar faces intending to resort to their experience.
The First Serve recaps day 2 of qualifying at Melbourne Park.
Winners:
John Millman d. Alessandro Giannessi 6-3 6-4
Omar Jasika d. Dalibor Svrcina 6-3 1-6 6-2
Edward Winter d. Franco Agamemone 6-3 6-4
Tristan Schoolkate d. Sho Shimabukuro 5-7 6-4 6-3
Priscilla Hon d. Dalma Gálfi 4-6 6-3 6-4
Maddison Inglis d. Nuria Parrizas-Diaz 4-6 6-3 7-5
Storm Hunter d. Kaia Kanepi 6-3 6-2
Maya Joint d. Natalija Stevanović
Announcing his intention to retire after the Australian Open, John Millman turned back the clock to defeat Italy’s Giannessi in straight sets.
As vocal as ever and with Lleyton Hewitt making an appearance in his player box, Millman proved that his tank isn’t empty just yet.
Fresh off her success in the doubles during the United Cup, Storm Hunter translated that form into the singles as she took down Estonian veteran Kaia Kanepi.
A slow start didn’t hamper the Aussie in the end, as the 29-year-old won 12 of the last 14 games to progress through to the second round, with newly appointed Billie Jean Cup captain Sam Stosur watching on.
A medical timeout called at 5-2 down in third set by Dalibor Svrcina couldn’t halt the momentum of world number 341 Omar Jasika in what was a topsy turvy encounter with seven breaks of serve.
Madison Inglis, known best for her third round appearance at the 2022 Australian Open, caused one of the biggest upsets of the day to defeat 14th seed Parrizas-Diaz after trailing one set.
19-year-old Edward Winter took care of Franco Agamenone in straights, recording his second ever win at Australian Open qualifying after beating Gilles Simon two years ago, joining Tristan Schoolkate in the winners circle.
One of the most eye-catching displays played out on Court 6, as 17-year-old Maya Joint demonstrated relentless hustle to fight for every ball. As a reward for her efforts, the American-born Aussie secured her ticket to the second round after a nail-biting third set.
Priscilla Hon was the only Australian to commence her second round fixture, overcoming 29th seed Hungarian Dalma Gálfi after dropping the opening set 6-3 to record back-to-back wins for the first time since November.
Losers:
Flavio Cobolli d. Jeremy Jin 6-2 6-2
Oriol Roca Batalla d. Philip Sekulic 7-5 6-1
Maria Timofeeva d. Astra Sharma 6-2 6-4
Hailey Baptiste d. Seone Mendez 6-3 6-1
Out of the eight wildcards representing Australia today, the biggest test was assigned to Jeremy Jin as he was forced to settle with a loss against second seed and 2023 Next Gen Italian Flavio Cobolli.
Jin, 19, was let down by his serving when it mattered most, winning just over half of his first serve points (52%).
Other wildcards that crumbled on day 2 included promising young talent Philip Sekulic as well as 24-year-old Seone Mendez, as 19th seeded American Hailey Baptiste, who simply had too much power both on serve and from the back of the court.
Astra Sharma was the only Aussie woman to falter today, as she followed the only other Australian seeded player, Arina Rodionova, through the exit door to suffer a disappointing straight sets loss against up-and-coming talent Maria Timofeeva on Show Court Arena.
Round two matchups:
John Millman v Alex Molcan [14] (Slovakia)
Edward Winter v Sumit Nagal [28] (India)
Omar Jasika v Zachary Svajda [32] (USA)
Tristan Schoolkate v Shintaro Mochizuki [27] (Japan)
Storm Hunter v Celine Naef [30] (Switzerland)
Maya Joint v Darja Semenistaja [32] (Latvia)
Maddison Inglis v Katarina Zavatska (Ukraine)
Round three matchup:
Priscilla Hon v Maria Timofeeva (Russia)
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