Australian Open Qualifiers (R64) - Jan 19- Feb 1 Season I
Australian Open
Qualifiers (R64) - Melbourne
Top Half
Section One
Section Two
Section Three
Section Four
Bottom Half
Section Five
Section Six
Section Seven
Section Eight
CWLand's
Caresh Mahboob will go into his qualifying final as underdog with another dominant upset in qualifying - this time against
Patrick Ambrose of Britain. After defeating the top seed in straight sets, the 21-year old looked in unstoppable touch in the opening set as he raced through to a 6-0 win in just 27 minutes. Things looked better for the Brit in the second set as he held service in the first game after the embarrassing opening set, before making it 2-0 with a fighting performance. But Mahboob broke back in the seventh game and then levelled the set at four apiece en route to a tiebreaker. Mahboob proved too strong and sealed a
6-0 7-6(2) win to set up a finals clash with
Aldo Marín of Paraguay who destroyed
Morton Blundell of the Bahamas - dropping just one game.
It wasn't such a good day for
Ryan Fredericks as he gave away a one-set lead to fall to unseeded Spaniard
Rafael Fernando in three sets. "Ranga" managed to break Fernando's serve in the fourth game of the opening set to take a commanding 3-1 lead - a break he held on his way to claiming the first set 6-3. But just as he looked like joining Mahboob a finals spot, he was thoroughly outplayed by Fernando in the second and was unbelievably lucky to take it to a tiebreaker. There Fernando's class shone through as he didn't concede a point to claim the set. Fredericks dropped his first service game of the third and was down 2-0 - a scoreline he failed to overcome as Fernando booked a spot against America's
Jason Bradley with a
3-6 7-6(0) 6-4 victory.
Randy Smeltz also gave up a one-set lead to bow out in the round of 64 as Sweden's
Henrik Henrikkson claimed an ultimately convincing three set win. Smeltz took the only break of the first set to edge past the Swede, but was unable to maintain his composure as he dropped the second set 3-6. Things only went downhill from there for Smeltz as Henrikkson continued to find his range as he broke the serve of Smeltz three times. The German-born 28 year old broke back once, but it wasn't enough as he crashed to a
6-4 3-6 2-6 loss. Had Smeltz won, he wouldn't have been facing
Hamish McSporran as the CWLander dropped his match in straight sets to
Henry Charles. In a even contest, it was the superior polish of Charles that allowed him to get a deciding break in the first set and to get the better of McSporran in the breaker on his way to a
6-4 7-6(3) victory.
Jefferson Drake's impressive form of late continued as he knocked out tenth seed
Sam Cunningham from New Zealand with an impressive straight sets win. In his first round clash, Drake was made to work tirelessly for a win over South African
Shaun Lesley. But despite higher ranked opposition, Drake had it easier despite the closeness of the match - his early break in the first set left little doubt as to who was in better form early as he coasted to a 6-4 win. Cunningham continued to try and force the issue on Drake's serve but was unable to effect a break, whilst Drake seemed content to send the second to a tiebreaker where he would seal a showdown with
Pablo Scalforo with a
6-2 7-6(4) victory.
Mat Mitchell set up a qualifier final showdown with twentieth seed
Christopher Durand following a come-from-behind victory over
Anothy Ficher. Mitchell, who overcame fourteenth seed
Yitkhak Eban in his first match, looked lacklustre in the first set as Ficher had little trouble in a 6-2 win. But Mitchell found some of the fire that brought him through his first round contest to break early in the second and third sets and claim an impressive
2-6 6-4 6-4 victory. Mitchell now faces Ficher for a spot in the main draw of the Australian Open; Durand an imposing task following his demolition job of
Juris Tarasovs.
Section 7 had three CWLand representatives and two were able to keep their dream of a spot in the Australian Open alive with victories.
Sven Oxenstierna was the first with a superb straight sets with over 29th seed
Ilya Nesterov of Kazakhstan - "The Ox" looking in fine touch as he rarely looked troubled by the Kazakh en route to a finals berth.
Roy Daniels was similarly impressive with a
6-4 6-0 thumping of 24-year old
Massimo Prodi. Prodi dropped the first set 4-6 in the first set and didn't recover, Daniels through to the final to face eleventh seed
Gocha Berianidze on the back of a dominant win. But for
Rob Bowenburg, the journey was over at the hands of Ecuadorian teenager
Paul Arroyo. Whilst Bowenburg knocked out a seeded player in the first round, the promising Arroyo continued his winning ways with a big straight sets win. Bowenburg made a comeback after an embarrassing first set, but wasn't good enough in the end to avoid Arroyo advancing on the back of a
6-1 7-5 victory.
In the final section of the group,
Heath Davis showed few signs of fatigue with a come-from-behind victory over Argentina's
Emelio Cobos. The 26-year old Cobos faced a difficult prospect in Davis despite his elementary first round win, but looked the goods in the first set as he took it 6-4. But Davis rallied and his serve really was amped up as he fired down seven aces for the set to overpower Cobos who began to become more and more uncertain on his serve. His uncertainty became a real problem in the third and it handed Davis a match against
Samuel Thorpe as he romped home to an impressive
4-6 6-2 6-3 win. It was not to be for 22-year old
Spas Delev as his run ended at the hands of second seed
Jiří Gross of the Czech Republic. The 32-year old veteran never really came out of first gear as he coasted past the CWLander in straight sets
6-4 6-4. Gross will face Fin Matti Räihä in his final match to try and earn a spot in the Open main draw.
Seeds Out: 10-Sam Cunningham (NZL); 17-Diego Rodriquez (ARG); 23-Andy Russell (GBR); 29-Ilja Nesterov (KAZ)
