Fran Jones and Billy Harris Advance in Australian Open Qualifying

Fran Jones and Billy Harris advanced to the second round of Australian Open qualifying but three other British players were eliminated at Melbourne Park. Fran Jones, aiming for her second qualification, defeated Czech Linda Fruhvirtova 7-5, 6-4. Harris, hoping to make his first main draw appearance in Melbourne, battled past Japan’s Yuta Shimizu, winning 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-4. However, Paul Jubb lost 6-4, 6-4 to Argentina’s Juan Pablo Ficovich while Lily Miyazaki fell to Belgium’s Marie Benoit in a tight 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8) match.

Jan Choinski also lost 6-4, 7-5 to France’s Titouan Droguet. Players must win three qualifying matches to secure a spot in the tournament’s main draw which begins on Sunday. In other qualifying news, Cruz Hewitt, the 16-year-old son of Australian tennis legend Lleyton Hewitt, lost 6-1, 6-4 to Nikoloz Basilashvili with his father watching on court. Australian Bernard Tomic, once ranked in the top 20 also lost 6-3, 6-1 to Slovakia’s Jozef Kovalik.

Britons Harriet Dart and Heather Watson progressed to the second round of qualifying on Monday. Other British players including Katie Boulter, Emma Raducanu, Sonay Kartal, Jodie Burrage, Jack Draper, Cameron Norrie and Jacob Fearnley secured direct entry into the main draw. Elsewhere, Ons Jabeur continued her recovery from injury by winning 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 against Danielle Collins at the Adelaide International. Defending champion Jelena Ostapenko also progressed, coming from behind to beat Poland’s Magdalena Frech 4-6, 6-1, 6-1.