It was a happy day out for local supporters at the Adelaide International, as five Australian players progressed through the first round of qualifying.
Alexei Popyrin, James Duckworth, Rinky Hijikata, Storm Hunter (nee Sanders) and Kimberly Birrell all defeated higher-ranked opponents to progress to the final qualifying round in Adelaide, the local competitors achieving the perfect blend of aggression and composure on their home courts.
Popyrin required less than an hour to overcome the 99th-ranked Zhang Zhizhen, the Australian losing only six points on serve in his 6-2 6-3 victory. Duckworth fired 12 aces in a 6-3 7-6(2) win over Ben Shelton, while Hijikata defeated world No.90 Gregoire Barrere to seize the second top-100 win of his young career.
For Hunter and Birrell, there was impressive fighting spirit in their respective three-set wins. Hunter battled for two hours to overcome world No.74 Tamara Korpatsch 3-6 6-3 6-3, while Birrell also recovered from a first-set deficit to outlast world No.56 Ana Bogdan.
Three other Australians exited their home tournament, with Vasek Pospisil proving too strong for John Millman and South Australian teenager Edward Winter falling to No.5 seed Taro Daniel. Lizette Cabrera exited to rising Egyptian player, Mayar Sherif.
Meanwhile, Kwon Soonwoo, the No.1 seed in the men’s qualifying draw, achieved a memorable victory over former US Open champion Dominic Thiem. The Korean recorded eight aces as he progressed 6-4 6-1 over the Austrian, who is rebuilding form after a long injury absence from the tour, in 75 minutes.Other players to advance in the men’s qualifying draw included rising Chinese player Yibing Wu, a 6-3 7-6(1) winner over No.2 seed Ugu Humbert, and Roman Safiullin, who eliminated Yannick Hanfmann in three sets.
Anastasia Potapova, Shelby Rogers, Katerina Siniakova, Claire Liu, Marta Kostyuk, Viktorija Golubic and Linda Noskova also progressed in the women’s qualifying draw.
Play at the Adelaide International resumes at The Drive at 10am local time tomorrow, with main draw commencing at 11am on Centre Court.