American’s next hope for the future has qualified for a grand slam event for the first time. Taylor Fritz produced an excellent display to defeat the big-serving Mischa Zverev 6-3, 6-7, 6-4. The young American threw away a lead in the second set tiebreak, before going down 0-4 in the final set. Incredibly, Fritz then won six consecutive games to stun Zverev and qualify. Despite the success for Fritz there were one or two shocks to be found.
The most major of these was the defeat for second seed Ruben Bemelmans at the hands of the unseeded Jozef Kovalik. The Czech player dominate his higher-ranked Belgian opponent, breaking twice from six opportunities in the opener. The second set was a much closer affair, with only a break apiece en route to a tiebreak. Again, this proved close, with Bemelmans having a set point to take it to a decider. Kovalik however saved it, and proceeded to win three of the next four points to take his place in the main draw.
The defeat for Bemelmans and the loss in the first round for Luca Vanni meant that Tim Smyczek (3) was the highest-ranked player still in with a chance of qualification. Fortunately for the American he achieved the target, staging a comeback win against Frenchman Kenny De Schepper (29) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, completing the victory in two hours eleven minutes.
Dan Evans defeated another seed following his win over Luca Vanni (1) in the first round. Bjorn Fratangelo (17) was his victim this time, with the American falling apart in the final set of the 7-5, 4-6, 6-0 win for the Brit. Fratangelo has now also made the main draw as a lucky loser following the withdrawal of Yen-Hsun Lu.
There was more good news for the American contingent, as Ryan Harrison (19) managed to win the final two sets of his three set victory over Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-7, 7-6, 6-3. Veteran Radek Stepanek pulled off the “shock” win over Alejandro Gonzalez 6-3, 6-1. 2015 was the first time since 2002 that Stepanek had not featured in the main draw of the Australian Open, but he will take part this year as a result of his win.
In comparison, Mirza Basic (22) will take part in his first Australian Open main draw at the age of twenty-four. Basic had fallen in the first round of qualifying in both 2014 and 2013, but defeated Saketh Myneni of India 3-6, 6-4 8-6 for his first appearance.
Qualifying was also surprising for the emergence of two Argentinians. Marco Trungelliti and Renzo Olivo are more recognisable for their exploits on the South American Challenger swing on clay, but Trungelliti benefited from the retirement of Chinese opponent Yan Bai. Trungelliti had been leading 6-4, 6-7, 3-0 at the time. Olivo’s progress was a little more straight-forward, defeating unheralded Frenchman Vincent Millot 6-2, 6-4.
Despite the defeats for the French and Chinese above, men from those countries did progress from qualifying. Congratulations to Stephane Robert, who defeated Karen Khachanov 1-6, 6-4, 6-2, and Pierre-Hugues Herbert who defeated compatriot Edouard Roger-Vasselin (11) 6-3, 1-6, 9-7. Di Wu ensured his participation with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Niels Desein.
There was disappointment for Alexander Kudryavtsev, as he failed to build on his victory over Go Soeda (8) from the second round. He was defeated by in-form German Peter Gojowczyk 3-6, 7-6, 6-2. Gojowczyk qualifies for only his sixth main draw appearance at a grand slam, and his first since the 2015 Australian Open.
Other results:
Tatsumo Ito (13) defs Adrian Menendez-Maceiras 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
Yuichi Sugita (12) defs. Dennis Novikov 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
Daniel Brands (30) defs James McGee 7-6, 6-4.
Opponents for Qualifiers in Main Draw (Q)
Jiri Vesely vs (Q) Renzo Olivo.
Pablo Andujar vs (Q) Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
Victor Estrella Burgos vs (Q) Daniel Brands.
Austin Krajicek vs (Q) Di Wu.
(Q) Jozek Kovalik vs (Q) Marco Trungelliti.
Robin Haase vs (Q) Mirza Basic
(Q) Ryan Harrison vs Andrey Kuznetsov
Gael Monfils (23) vs (Q) Yuichi Sugita
(Q) Stephane Robert vs (LL) Bjorn Fratangelo
Daniel Gimeno-Traver vs (Q) Tim Smyczek
Jack Sock (25) vs (Q) Taylor Fritz
(Q) Tatsumo Ito vs (Q) Radek Stepanek
David Ferrer (8) vs (Q) Peter Gojowczyk
Feliciano Lopez (18) vs (Q) Dan Evans
