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Hon wins through in Aussie Open qualifying

Sara Tomic, Naiktha Bains, Tammi Patterson and Kimberly Birrell have lost their first-round Australian Open qualifying matches.

Sara Tomic of Australia plays a shot against Vera Lapko.
Sara Tomic will look to replicate her older brother by taking a step towards the Australian Open. (AAP)

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Source: AAP


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Priscilla Hon has spared her compatriots from an Australian Open qualifying whitewash, with Sara Tomic among seven other locals to crash out in the first round on Thursday.

The 19-year-old battled to a three-set victory over Barbora Stefkova, breaking the Czech in the last game of the match to win 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.

Her countrywomen weren't so lucky.

The capitulation of Arina Rodionova and Isabelle Wallace from a set up in their ties saw Australian women finish the day with one victory and seven defeats.

Tomic, Naiktha Bains and Tammi Patterson were straight-sets losers in their bid to join the main draw.

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Tomic, 19, hoped to join brother Bernard as a qualifying winner at Melbourne Park but lost 7-5 6-2 to Russian teenager Sofya Zhuk.

Kimberly Birrell and Ellen Perez lost in three sets.

Birrell put up a stern fight but gave herself too much to do in the third set against 21st seed Xinyun Han, losing 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 6-3 in two hours and 16 minutes.

Birrell had the momentum heading into the decider but slumped to a 5-0 deficit and couldn't recover against her Chinese opponent.

Hon is looking to make her second appearance in the main draw at Melbourne Park after being given a wildcard into the 2016 tournament, losing a first-round clash with Annika Beck.

She faces 2009 US Open semi-finalist Yanina Wickmayer, once ranked as highly as world No.12, in the second round.

STATE OF THE AUSSIE WOMEN AT MELBOURNE PARK:

First-round qualifying winners:

Priscilla Hon - def Barbora Stefkova (Czech Republic) 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

First-round qualifying losers:

Sara Tomic - lost to Sofya Zhuk (Russia) 7-5 6-2

Naiktha Bains - lost to 6-Danka Kovinic (Montenegro) 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

Tammi Patterson - lost to Ysaline Bonaventure (Belgium) 7-6 (7-1) 7-5

Kimberly Birrell - lost to 21-Xinyun Han (China) 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 6-3

Ellen Perez - lost to Valentini Grammatikopoulou (Greece) 6-3 4-6 6-2

Anna Rodionova - lost to Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine) 4-6 6-3 6-3

Isabelle Wallace - lost to Anna Karolina Schmeidlova (Slovakia) 5-7 6- 6-3

Main draw entries: Ashleigh Barty, Daria Gavrilova, Sam Stosur.

Wild card main draw entries: Olivia Rogowska, Lizette Cabrera, Destanee Aiava, Jaimee Fourlis, Ajla Tomljanovic.


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