Americans are charging hard into the final round of qualifying in Melbourne. Teen sensation Taylor Fritz highlighted the day's action as he continued his hot streak on Thursday. Fritz beat 9th seeded Michael Berrer to advance to round three of Australian Open qualifying.

Fritz Runs Win Streak to Seven, Three Seeded Americans Advance

Taylor Fritz is one step away from qualifying for his first main draw at a Grand Slam. The 18-year-old knocked out 9th seeded Michael Berrer in the second round of qualifying on Thursday. Fritz won 6-3, 1-6, 6-1. His first serve again led the way as he won 35 of 44 points from it in the match. He notched 31 total winners to contrast 22 unforced errors. He has now won seven straight matches to open 2016. Fritz will battle another German veteran in the final round of qualifying in Mischa Zverev. Zverev bullied his way past 23rd seed Norbert Gombos 6-1, 6-2 to secure a spot in the final round.

Elsewhere, Americans racked up three more wins to move within a match of the main draw. That effort was led by third seed Tim Smyczek. Smyczek eased past Aslan Karatsev 6-3, 6-4. Smyczek faces 29th seeded Kenny De Schepper next. The Frenchman outlasted Jurgen Zopp 7-5, 5-7, 12-10 on Thursday. Bjorn Fratangelo, the 17th seed in qualifying, rallied from a set down to beat Oriol Roca Batalla. Fratangelo had major service issues to open as Roca Batalla took the opening set 6-3, breaking the American three times. Fratangelo steadied himself after that as he won 36 of the next 47 points on his serve in sets two and three to complete a comeback win 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. He was not broken in the final two sets. He will face Daniel Evans in the final round. Evans took down Amir Weintraub 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-2 in the second round.

The other American headed to the final round of qualifying is 32nd seed Dennis Novikov. He knocked out Britain's James Ward 6-4, 7-5. Novikov was the better man in converting those key break opportunities as he won three of nine break chances, while Ward would convert just one out of seven. Novikov has another tough task in his bid to qualify as he faces 12th seed Yuichi Sugita in the final round of qualifying. Sugita beat Belgium's Yannick Mertens 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 to advance on Thursday.

Aussies Fizzle

The hopes of the Australian fans were dashed some on Thursday as two of their own lost out in qualifying play. John Patrick Smith was upset by Vincent Millot 6-2, 7-5. The 16th seeded Aussie was woeful with 40 unforced errors and was broken a half dozen times on 18 break chances offered up. Smith won less than 50 percent of his service points in the match. Benjamin Mitchell is also out after losing to Renzo Olivo. Olivo dropped a tense tiebreak to open by a score of 13-11 before taking the next two sets 7-5 and 6-2. Mitchell was plagued by double faults as he racked up 17 of them. He also committed 57 unforced errors to just 43 winners. Marinko Matosevic and Oliver Anderson are the only two remaining Australian players in the qualifying draw. They both are scheduled for second round action on Friday. Millot and Olivo face off for a spot in the main draw in the final round of qualifying.

Benjamin Mitchell (Photo: Getty Images)
Benjamin Mitchell (Photo: Getty Images)

Other Thursday Results

Second seed Ruben Bemelmans held off Egor Gerasimov in three sets 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to get into the final round of qualifying. Bemelmans is seeking to make it into the main draw for the third time in four years. Stephane Robert upset 28th seed Igot Sijsling 7-5, 7-5. Russian Karen Khachanov stunned 14th seed Kimmer Coppjeans 6-3, 6-2 to work into the third round. Khachanov did not face a single break point in the match. Khachanov and Robert will meet in the third round. Finally, Jozef Kovalik headed to round three via a 6-2, 6-3 blitzing of Matteo Donati. Kovalik gets Bemelmans in the final round of qualifying. 

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Chris Spiech
Tennis fan who still is not sure exactly how he became a tennis fan.