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Australian wildcard Dane Sweeny is one win away from a maiden grand slam appearance after he toppled his seeded Italian opponent in straight sets in qualifying at Melbourne Park.
Sweeny won the first set in a dogged 85-minute bout before he stormed home to defeat world no. 119 Luca Nardi 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 in the second round of the play-in tournament.
The 22-year-old from Sydney reached the final round of qualifying for the first time since 2021 and is on the verge of an Australian Open debut after overcoming two higher ranked opponents.
Sweeny reached a career high world ranking of no. 225 last winter but sat at 257 and needed a wildcard to enter qualifying for his home grand slam.
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He said after his first-round win over Italian Matteo Gigante that he felt his game was in good enough shape to reach the main draw.
“I’ve been dreaming of this moment since I was two years old, so to play main draw, it would be unbelievable,” Sweeny said.
“I think I’m playing at a level where I can achieve it right now, but right now it’s not worrying about that, it’s about the next match.”
Sweeny was the first Australian qualifier through to Friday’s final round, with 13 already in the men’s singles draw.
Retiring fan favourite John Millman is also pressing for a final Australian Open campaign and will play his second-round match late on Thursday afternoon.
Queensland teenager Melisa Ercan defied the odds on Tuesday to reach the second round of qualifying after she collapsed due to severe cramping in her lower legs midway through her match, but the 18-year-old was unable to bounce back in time for her clash with Chinese qualifier Sija Wei and withdrew on Thursday morning.
Ercan held a 6-4, 4-1 lead over Britain’s Yuriko Miyazaki when she was forced to stop and seek medical treatment, but managed to claim the second set 7-5 in a tie-break before she was wheelchaired off the court.
Australian trio Storm Hunter, Talia Gibson and Destanee Aiava all remain in contention with second-round matches on Thursday.
Aussies into final round
Dane Sweeny (WC) vs No.22 Zizou Bergs
Priscilla Hon vs Maria Timofeeva
Destanee Aiava vs No.2 Renata Zarazua
Maya Joint (WC) vs No.1 Dayana Yastremska
Yet to play Round 2 match or playing now
Tristan Schoolkate (WC) vs No.27 Shintaro Mochizuki
Omar Jasika (WC) vs No.32 Zachary Svajda
John Millman vs No.14 Alex Molcan
Edward Winter (WC) vs No.28 Sumit Nagal
Maddison Inglis (WC) vs Katarina Zavatska
Storm Hunter vs No.30 Celina Naef
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