The recipient of the US Wildcard Agreement for the Australian Open has taken advantage of his guaranteed berth for the tournament by taking part in a Challenger event this week. Noah Rubin, struggled through the first set, but eventually won against Australian wildcard Alex de Minaur 6-7, 6-2, 6-4.
Young Japanese star Yoshihito Nishioka was also lucky to emerge from a tough match against a local, with Jarryd Chaplin giving him quite a game, though Nishioka did eventually emerge 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Progress was easier for three of the seeded players, as Daniel Munoz De La Nava, Marcel Granollers, and Evgeny Donskoy, all won their first round encounters in straights sets.
Maverick Banes scored a good win over highly-rated Greek youngster Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-3, Frank Moser won the battle of the qualifiers in defeating Steven de Waard,6-4, 6-3 and Xin Gao won against Japanese Hiroyashu Ehara.
There are some key matches to look forward to on Tuesday. The match between young Frenchman Quentin Halys and eighth seed Taro Daniel has the potential to be a shock, with Halys having scored some big wins in 2015. Another potential upset is Dudi Sela over second seed Santiago Giraldo. Sela is in reasonable form, having reached the final of the Happy Valley Challenger last week, losing to Taylor Fritz.
Sixth seed Diego Schwartzmann starts against wildcard Alexei Popyrin, and top seed Paolo Lorenzi plays compatriot Stefano Napolitano. Daniel Gimeno-Traver has an interesting match-up with Matthew Ebden.
This event is notable for its wide range of participants. The top seeds are all players who have earned direct entry to the Australian Open, whilst most of the rest, with the exception of Noah Rubin, have low rankings not high enough to gain them entry to the Australian Open Qualifying Event that begins later this week. Thus, there is nearly a nine-hundred place ranking gap between the top seed and the last direct acceptance.
Selected matches and picks (in bold)
Taro Daniel vs Quentin Halys
Daniel Gimeno-Traver vs Matthew Ebden
Dudi Sela vs Santiago Giraldo
