AFTER rain delays caused the majority of Day 2 matches to be suspended or cancelled, organisers rushed to fill the third day with extra games to catch up across the Australian Open Qualifying Round. In a massive day of action there was plenty to talk about as some epic encounters ensued.

In one of the longest games of Round 1, 18th seed Yannick Maden defeated compatriot, Maximilian Marterer of Germany in three tiebreakers, 6-7 7-6 7-6 to advance through to the second round in more than three hours. Also through were fourth seed Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori, fifth seed Slovakia’s Andrej Martin, sixth seed Russian Evgeny Donskoy – who had to to survive a two hour and 42 minute thriller – and 24th seed Argentinian Facundo Bagnis. On the home front, local hope and wildcard Rinky Hijikata made the most of a suspended 6-6-6 match on day two against Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland, coming back to topple the second seed in the tiebreaker 7-0, then winning the second set in a tiebreaker to move through with a 7-6 7-6 victory. In one of the strangest of circumstances, Ecuador’s Emilio Gomez was originally playing Sweden’s Elias Ymer in the first round, but the Swede had to withdraw allowing Croatian, Viktor Galovic to come into the draw. Unfortunately for Gomez, Galovic proved he was not just a fill-in, claiming a three-set win 7-6 2-6 6-3.

It was even better news for a couple of Australians in the Round 2 matches with Aleksandar Vukic moving one win away away from qualifying for the main draw with an upset 6-4 6-3 win over Germany’s Matthias Bachinger. He now faces Daniel Galan in the final round in what will be a huge challenge. Max Purcell also advanced to the final round with a win over 13th seed, Gianluca Mager, 6-3 4-6 6-4 to now face Jozef Kovalik. The 26th seed knocked off Australian wildcard Luke Saville in three hours and 10 minutes during a 6-7 7-6 6-4 epic encounter and may have to play the role of party pooper in the final round. In other results, Lukas Rosol advanced past 12th seed Italian Pablo Lorenzi, 6-7 7-6 7-5 in two hours and 58 minutes, with neither of these players deserving of a second round qualifying exit but it had to be one of them. Former top 15 player Ernests Gulbis also advanced through to the final round of qualifying, defeating 15th seed Argentinian, Federico Coria 6-3 1-6 6-2.

Men’s Round 2:

I. Ivashka (BLR) defeated [7] Denis Kudla (USA) 7-6 5-7 7-5
Z. Li (CHN) defeated J. Domingues (POR) 6-4 6-1
[10] N. Gombos (SVK) defeated R. Marcora (ITA) 6-2 6-4
P. Krstin (SRB) defeated F. Ferreira Silva (POR) 3-6 6-4 6-1
[WC] A. Vukic (AUS) defeated M. Bachinger (GER) 6-4 6-3
D. Galan (COL) defeated [19] J. Jung (TAI) 6-3 3-6 6-3
L. Rosol (CZE) defeated [12] Pablo Lorenzi (ITA) 6-7 7-6 7-5 2hrs 58
P. Martinez (ESP) defeated [29] J. Varillas (PER) 6-3 6-3
M. Purcell (AUS) defeated [13] G. Mager (ITA) 6-3 4-6 6-4
[26] J. Kovalik (SRB) defeated [WC] L. Saville (AUS) 7-6 6-7 6-4 3hrs 10
M. Viola (ITA) defeated M. Janvier (FRA) 7-6 6-4
A. Tabilo (CHI) defeated S. Stakhovsky (UKR) 2-6 6-2 6-3
E. Gulbis (LAT) defeated [15] F. Coria (ARG) 6-3 1-6 6-2
[17] P. Gunneswaran (IND) defeated Y. Hanfmann (GER) 1-6 6-2 6-1
[16] P. Gojowczyk (GER) defeated B. Kavcic (SRB) 3-6 6-3 6-4
C. Lestienne (FRA) defeated [WC] B. Mott (AUS) 6-4 6-4

Round 1 SUPENDED/DNP completed:

F. Horansky (SVK) defeated R. Ortega-Olmedo (ESP) 4-6 7-5 6-4
[WC] R. Hijikata (AUS) defeated [2] H. Laaksonen (SUI) 7-6 7-6
M.Copil (ROU) defeated T. Wu (TAI) 3-6 7-6 7-6
[WC] L. Musetti (ITA) defeated [20] A. Weintraub (ISR) 6-2 6-1
V. Troicki (SRB) defeated [22] B. Klahn (USA) 6-4 6-2
[4] E. Ruusuvuori (FIN) defeated F. Mena (ARG) 7-5 6-2
E. Benchetrit (FRA) defeated S. Darcis (BEL) 7-5 7-5
E. Couacaud (FRA) defeated D. Petovic (SRB) 4-6 7-6 6-2
D. Popko (KAZ) defeated [25] Z. Zhang (CHN) 7-6 7-6
[5] A. Martin (SVK) defeated A. Vatutin (RUS) 6-3 6-2
M. Borgue (FRA) defeated O. Otte (GER) 5-7 6-1 6-1
M. Vilella Martinez (ESP) defeated N. Mahut (FRA) 6-3 6-4
[24] F. Bagnis (ARG) defeated S. Napolitano (ITA) 6-3 6-4
[6] E. Donskoy (RUS) defeated J. Menezes (BRA) 6-7 6-1 7-6
V. Galovic (CRO) defeated E. Gomez (ECU) 7-6 2-6 6-3 (was originally E Ymer)
A. Muller (FRA) defeated P. Polansky (CAN) 6-1 6-2
M. Safawat (IRQ) defeated [21] S. Nagal (IND) 7-6 6-2
N. Milojevic (SRB) defeated [8] T. Daniel (JPN) 7-5 6-4
M. Trungelliti (ARG) defeated [9] G. Soeda (JPN) 6-4 6-4
J. Wolf (USA) defeated Z. Kolar (CZE) 6-4 6-2
L. Giustino (ITA) defeated Y. Bai (CHN) 6-3 7-5
[18] Y. Maden (GER) defeated M. Marterer (GER) 6-7 7-6 7-6 3hrs 10

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Completing the remainder of the women’s Round 1 clashes that were suspended or delayed, there were a number of interesting results, the most surprising of which was the exit of former world number five, Sara Errani. The Italian was bundled out by fifth seed Russian, Anna Kalinskaya 6-2 1-6 6-2. It was better news for top seeds, Japan’s Nao Hibino, Russia’s Varvava Gracheva, Ukraine’s Katarina Zavatska, Russia’s Natalia Vikhlyantseva and United States’ Catherine McNally with the top 10 seeds all advancing through to the next round. The 13th seed, Belgium’s Greet Minnen got past local hope, Kaylah McPhee, winning 6-3 2-6 6-3 with the deciding set played yesterday. McPhee joined other Aussies, Olivia Rogowska and Jaimee Fourlis in exiting the tournament in the first round, while wildcard Storm Sanders moved into the second round with a comprehensive 6-2 6-0 smashing of United States’ Robin Anderson.

In Round 2 matches, it was the procession of the seeds into the final round with eight of the 14 seeds moving through already and some mixed results for local hopes. Top seed, Ana Bogdan and the only player ranked inside 100 on the live rankings knocked off Belinda Woolcock 6-2 6-3, while former top 10 player and Canadian, Eugenie Bouchard defeated Australia’s top ranked qualifier, Maddison Inglis 6-3 6-1 to move through to the final round. It was better news for Destanee Aiava who proceeded through following victory over Russian 16th seed, Varvara Flink 6-3 6-7 6-4. In other results, 11th seed Stefanie Voegele set up a final round showdown with 20th seed Monica Niculescu, with the pair reaching career high rankings in the past of 42nd and 28th respectively. Former world number 12, Yannick Wickmayer was surprisingly bundled out by 31st seed and 19-year-old American, Ann Li who is at her career high ranking currently of 142nd.

Women’s Round 2:

[1] A. Bogdan [ROU] defeated [WC] B. Woolcock (AUS) 6-2 6-3
[31] A. Li (USA) defeated Y. Wickmayer (BEL) 6-3 6-2
S. Rogers (USA) defeated [8] A. Bolsova (ESP) 6-4 6-3
[30] C. Dolehide (USA) defeated O. Govortsova (BLR) 6-3 6-4
M. Trevisan (ITA) defeated [9] Y. Bonaventure (BEL) 6-0 6-2
E. Bouchard (CAN) defeated [21] M. Inglis (AUS) 6-3 6-1
[11] S. Voegele (SUI) defeated D. Satralova (CZE) 3-6 6-1 6-2
[20] M. Niculescu (ROU) defeated V. Tomova (BLR)
[12] L. Samsonova (RUS) defeated H. Baptise (USA) 1-6 6-2 6-2
[24] X. Wang (CHN) defeated M. Osorio Serrano (COL) 6-1 6-4
E. Cocciaretto (ITA) defeated [14] F. Di Lorenzo (USA) 6-3 6-1
[23] T. Martincova (CZE) defeated V. Savinykh (RUS) 6-1 5-7 6-4
H. Dart (GBR) defeated [15] N. Gibbs (USA) 6-2 6-3
G. Gatto-Monticone (ITA) defeated M. Di Giuseppe (ITA) 6-3 6-3
D. Aiava (AUS) defeated [16] V. Flink (RUS) 6-1 6-7 6-4
A. Lottner (GER) defeated C. Muramatsu (JPN) 6-3 5-7 6-2

Round 1 SUSPENDED/DNP:

[2] N. Hibino (JPN) defeated E. Liang (TAI) 6-1 4-6 6-3
Y. Yuan (CHN) defeated S. Murray Sharan (GBR) 2-6 6-4 6-2
L. Arruabarrena (ESP) defeated I. De Vroome (NED) 6-3 6-3
Y. Naito (JPN) defeated [26] A. Friedsam (GER) 6-3 7-5
[3] V. Gracheva (RUS) defeated C. Pacquet (FRA) 6-2 6-1
O. Danilovic (SRB) defeated J. Jovic (SRB) 3-6 6-3 7-6
J. Larsson (SWE) defeated U. Radwanska (POL) 6-3 6-1
[29] M. Minella (NED) defeated J. Ponchet (FRA) 6-2 7-5
[4] K. Zavatska (UKR) defeated S. Ma (CHN) 6-3 0-6 6-2
S. Vickery (USA) defeated G. Ce (BRA) 6-0 6-1
V. Lepchenko (USA) defeated B. Eraydin (TUR) 6-1 6-1
A. Bondar (HUN) vs. [19] B. Krejcikova (CZE) 2-2 SUS
[5] A. Kalinskaya (RUS) defeated S. Errani (ITA) 6-2 1-6 6-2
L. Paar (ROU) defeated I. Bara (ROU) 7-6 6-2
[6] N. Vikhlyantseva (RUS) defeated M. Kostyuk (UKR) 7-5 6-2
I. Shinikova (BLR) defeated M. Chwalinska (POL) 6-0 7-5
[WC] S. Sanders (AUS) defeated R. Anderson (USA) 6-2 6-0
[18] K. Juvan (SLO) defeated E. Gorgodze (GEO) 6-2 6-3
L. Fernandez (CAN) defeated [7] P. Tig (ROU) 6-2 6-3
M. Hibi (JPN) defeated M. Frech (POL) 6-2 4-6 6-4
[10] C. McNally (USA) defeated A. Muhammad (USA) 6-4 0-6 6-2
D. Lopatetska (UKR) defeated C. Perrin (SUI) 6-2 6-2
N. Parrizas Diaz (ESP) defeated [WC] O. Rogowska (AUS) 6-4 6-2
E. Ruse (ROU) defeated [22] U. Arconada (USA) 6-7 7-5 6-4
[13] G. Minnen (BEL) defeated K. McPhee (AUS) 6-3 2-6 6-3
F. Xun (CHN) defeated [WC] J. Fourlis (AUS) 6-7 6-3 6-4