Next Gen ATP Stars Inch Towards Australian Open Main Draw

#NextGenATP stars Noah Rubin and Andrey Rublev are one step away from the main draw of the Australian Open, with both players recording second-round qualifying victories in a rain-filled Day 3 of qualifying on Friday. Only 16 matches were completed.

Rubin once again came through in a deciding set to take out No. 32 seed Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. The American reached the second round last year in Melbourne through a reciprocal main draw wild card, but looks to qualify for a Grand Slam for the first time in his career. The 20-year-old will now compete for a spot in the main draw against No. 11 seed Evgeny Donsky of Russia, who scored a hard-fought 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-2 victory over Australian Matthew Ebden.

The 18-year-old Rublev recorded one of the biggest upsets of the day by defeating fourth seed Yuichi Sugita of Japan, 6-4, 7-6(2). The Russian squandered two match points trying to serve out the contest at 6-5, but regrouped to win the final five points of the tie-break. Next up for Rublev is a final-round qualifying match against No. 22 seed Peter Polansky of Canada, a 6-4 6-3 winner over Mirza Basic.

ATP World Tour veterans Jurgen Melzer and Julien Benneteau also progressed to the qualifying round. Austrian Melzer, who reached the 2011 fourth round (l. to Murray), knocked out No. 13 seed Taro Daniel 6-3, 6-2 and French No. 26-seed Benneteau overcame Guilherme Clezar 7-5, 6-0.

Other second-round qualifying winners on Friday include Russian Evgeny Donskoy, American Rajeev Ram, Czech Jan Satral and Italian Luca Vanni.