Australia will not have a qualifier make this year's men's main draw of the Australian Open. All eleven of the players originally placed into the qualifying field have now been eliminated, after Marinko Matosevic and Oliver Anderson fell in round two on Friday.
Aussies Eliminated
Marinko Matosevic was in qualifying in Melbourne for the first time since 2009 and he will now miss out on the main draw for the first time since then. Alejandro Gonzalez, the 24th seed, beat Matosevic 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. Matosevic will be left to lament his missed opportunities from the match as he failed to convert seven of the eight break chances he saw off the Colombian. Gonzalez was more clinical on his chances, breaking the Aussie four times on 11 opportunities. Matosevic also committed a whopping 44 unforced errors in the match. Fellow Aussie Oliver Anderson is also done in qualifying. The 17-year-old from Brisbane lost in straight sets to Adrian Menendez-Maceiras 6-4, 6-2. This continues a horrid run by the Aussies in trying to qualify for the men's main draw. They have not had a player make it through qualifying since Matthew Ebden did it back in 2010.
Top Ten Seeds Shocked
Four top ten seeds were in action to finish second round play on Friday and all four lost. Fourth seed Alejandro Falla was beaten by Niels Desein in three sets. Falla is likely to miss out on the main draw for the first time since 2009. Savvy Czech veteran Radek Stepanek is a step closer to qualification after he edged out 5th seed Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 6-4. Stepanek is looking to keep a string alive of 12 straight years participating in the main draw in Melbourne. Alexander Kudryavtsev ran past 8th seed Go Soeda 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. The Russian was nearly perfect when he came to the net in the second round, winning 16 of 17 points. He had 39 winners and 37 unforced errors against Soeda. The fourth top ten seed to drop out was 10th seed Radu Albot. Ireland's James McGee rebounded from a poor opening set to dismiss Albot 1-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Two of Three Americans Lose
One of the United States' up and coming players will not be in the main draw this year. Frances Tiafoe had a poor day as he was trounced by Peter Gojowczyk 6-3, 6-2. The soon-to-be 18-year-old American was looking to make the main draw for the third time in the last four Grand Slams, but could not find his best in round two. Tiafoe had 24 unforced errors against just 12 winners in the match. Tennys Sandgren is also headed out after losing to 13th seed Tatsuma Ito 6-3, 6-2. The news was not all bad for American tennis fans though as 19th seed Ryan Harrison over powered Denys Molchanov 6-3, 6-1. Harrison dominated with his first serve winning 81 percent of the points as he tallied seven aces. In an interview posted on the Australian Open website, Harrison said it is a thrill to be one step closer to the main draw, “It’s exciting to be in the last round of qualies. I’m fired up.
He added though that he doesn't hope to be in a similar spot this time next year, saying, “It’s great to be in the final round of qualies, but I want to be in the main draw direct next year."
Other Second Round Results
(11) Eduoard Roger-Vasselin def. Jordi Samper-Montana 6-3, 6-2
Yan Bai def. (18) Konstantin Kravchuk 2-6, 6-4, 8-6
(22) Mirza Basic def. Marius Copil 6-3, 7-6 (1)
Di Wu def. (26) Thomas Fabbiano 6-1, 6-4
(30 Daniel Brands def. Maxime Janvier 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2
Saketh Myneni def. Lorenzo Giustino 6-1, 7-6 (7)
Aleksandr Nedovyesov def. Aldin Setkic 6-2, 2-6, 6-0
Marco Trungelliti def. Dennis Novak 6-3, 6-4
Pierre Hugues-Herbert def. Marco Chiudinelli 7-6 (5), 6-4
Round Three Schedule
The final round of qualifying is set for Saturday. Among the top matches of the day, 3rd seed Tim Smyczek battles 29th seed Kenny De Schepper and 11th seed Eduoard Roger-Vasselin goes against French countryman Pierre Hugues-Herbert. American sensation Taylor Fritz also seeks to qualify for his second Grand Slam main draw as he is matched up against Mischa Zverev. Fritz brings a seven match winning streak into Saturday's match-up.