Aussies struggle in Open qualifying

Andrew Harris and John-Patrick Smith were the only Australian survivors as 11 of their countrymen fell on day one of Australian Open qualifying.

Melbourne teenager Andrew Harris and Queensland's John-Patrick Smith are the only Australian men to have survived the first round of Australian Open qualifying.

Eleven other Australians were knocked out on Wednesday's opening day of the qualifying tournament at Melbourne Park.

Harris, the 19-year-old son of 1988 Australian Open quarter-finalist Anne Minter, said he always felt in control as he downed Italy's Simone Vagnozzi 6-1 7-5.

"I played qualifying two years ago and was very nervous and did not play well, but I'm very happy with today," he told the Tennis Australia website.

His next opponent will be China's Ze Zhang.

Smith, 24, beat fellow Australian Benjamin Mitchell 7-5 6-3 to set up a meeting with American fourth seed Denis Kudla.

Two other Australians gave their opponents huge tests before falling in long three-setters to join the list of local losers.

Luke Saville fell 6-7(7-9) 6-0 11-9 to Chile's Paul Capdeville and Alex Bolt lost to Frenchman Axel Michon 6-4 3-6 11-9.


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Source: AAP


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