Two Americans marked their returns to form at the beginning of the new season in some style, by qualifying for the main draw of the Brisbane International.
Former Top 100 player Ernesto Escobedo defeated wildcard entrant James Duckworth and then 8th seed Jozef Kovalik 6-2, 7-6 to reach the main draw. It is the first time since the Montreal Masters that Escobedo has won back-to-back matches at any level. In Canada he won through qualifying and his first round match.
His fellow American Michael Mmoh will also feature after the 19 year-old won two matches. Mmoh was unseeded, but defeated 4th seed Quentin Halys and 6th seed Sebastien Ofner 6-4, 6-3 without dropping a set. It marks a return to form for Mmoh, who suffered defeats in his final two events of last season, in a pair of Challenger events.
It is the first time since Auckland nearly a year ago that Mmoh has successfully fought his way through qualifying to reach the main draw of an ATP event.
Escobedo and Mmoh are joined in the main draw by unseeded Aussie John-Patrick Smith, who edged Viktor Galovic 6-4, 3-6, 7-6. Smith had defeated top seed Alexander Bublik in the first round of qualifying, whilst Galovic had taken down Argentina’s Renzo Olivo.
5th seeded Canadian Peter Polansky completed the Brisbane International lineup. He defeated 2nd seed Yannick Hanfmann 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
The players have not learned who they will face in the first round of the main draw with the draw set to be updated accordingly.
