Former World No. 17 Bernard Tomic battled his way into the final round of Australian Open qualifying in a rain delayed second round with #NextGenATP American Tommy Paul in a tight 6-0, 6-7(5), 7-6(4) encounter, which was finished indoors due to inclement weather at Melbourne Park on Saturday.
Although he raced off to an emphatic 6-0, 5-2 lead, Tomic, who finds himself outside of the Top 100 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time since 2014, surrendered the second set following an inspired fightback from the 20-year-old. The third set remained tightly contested, with the pair exchanging breaks before the Australian claimed victory under the roof on Margaret Court Arena.
Tomic will be looking to make his 10th straight appearance in the Australian Open main draw when he plays his final qualifying match against Lorenzo Sonego of Italy, who is bidding to qualify for a Grand Slam main draw for the first time in his career following a standout 2017 season in which he claimed his first ATP Challenger Tour title.
Watch Live Streaming Of Qualifying From Melbourne Park
Later on the third day of qualifying, Vasek Pospisil battled past Stefano Napolitano 6-1, 6-7(5), 7-5 to book a showdown with Ramkumar Ramanathan. The Canadian, who defeated top-seeded Andy Murray at the BNP Paribas Open last year, conquered Napolitano in two hours, three minutes.
#NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud will look to qualify for a Grand Slam main draw for the first time when he faces Ernesto Escobedo on Sunday. Ruud triumphed over Kazakh Dmitry Popko 7-5, 6-3, while Escobedo overcame Alessandro Giannessi 6-3, 6-2.
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