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)

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.

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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Source: AAP



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