There was a lot on the line Sunday at Melbourne Park, with 16 matches deciding the 16 qualifiers who would move through to the main draw of the 2018 Australian Open.
So it was only fitting that nine of the 16 matches were three-setters, hotly contested battles with a position in the first Grand Slam of the season going to the winner.
But one player who did not have to go the distance was #NextGenATP Spaniard Jaume Munar, who was supported during his qualifying efforts earlier in the event by the Australian Open’s top seed Rafael Nadal. The 20-year-old pushed through to the main draw of a major for the first time in his career with a 7-5, 6-2 victory against home favourite Bradley Mousley. Munar, who will play recent Qatar ExxonMobil Open champion Gael Monfils in the first round, leads a group of seven players who began in qualifying and will be making their Slam debuts.
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Salvatore Caruso (d. Bourgue), Kevin King (d. Smith), Dennis Novak (d. Soeda), Casper Ruud (d. Escobedo) and Lorenzo Sonego (d. Tomic) all came out victorious in the third round of qualifying, earning their spot in the elite 128.
Matteo Berrettini, who fell to American Denis Kudla in the third round of qualifying, will make his Grand Slam debut against No. 26 seed Adrian Mannarino after gaining entry as a lucky loser. Peter Polansky, despite losing against Yuki Bhambri in three sets, also got in as a lucky loser, the second year in a row that has been the case. Those two slots opened up due to the withdrawals of Filip Krajinovic and Yen-Hsun Lu.
Two qualifiers are guaranteed to move onto the second round of the main draw thanks to all-qualifier openers, as Ruud will take on Frenchman Quentin Halys and American Mackenzie McDonald will battle Sweden’s Elias Ymer.