Tennis:Louk Sorensen and Conor Niland are through to the second round of qualifying for the Australian Open after both enjoyed two-set wins in Melbourne this morning.
Niland beat Finland’s Henri Kontinen 6-4 6-4, while Sorensen was taken to a first set tiebreak by Monaco’s Benjamin Balleret before winning the second 6-3.
Both players are ranked just inside the world's top 300 and face tough American opponents in the second round. Niland is due to play Jesse Witten, who is seeded 28th in the qualifiers and has an ATP ranking of 163. Sorensen's opponent, Michael Yani, is ranked 158th and seeded 26th.
Two Irish Juniors - John Morrissey and Sam Barry will both be taking part in the Boys Singles main draw.
Britain’s Alex Bogdanovic and James Ward also claimed straight-sets wins this morning.
Bogdanovic, 171st in the ATP rankings, beat Austria’s world number 687 Martin Slanar 6-4 6-3.
The 25-year-old said of his win: “It was solid. I played well for my first match of the year. I was happy to get through it.
“My off-season has been good; I trained pretty hard and I feel ready. I got in on Thursday night so I’ve had a bit of time to get used to the conditions and playing in the heat — I’m glad it was a bit cooler today than it has been, though.
“I’ve qualified for a grand slam once before and I’ve won matches in grand slam qualifying so I know what I have to do. You just have to take it one match at a time and not get ahead of yourself.”
Ward, 22, had a marginally tougher assignment against Australian Matt Reid but posted a 6-4 6-4 victory.
Having spent time hitting with Rafael Nadal last month, Ward, 261st in the world, ousted the 503rd-ranked Reid to move a step closer to joining the Spanish superstar in the first grand slam of the year.
Ward said: “It wasn’t easy. It was difficult because he was serving very well and he’s a young guy who has had some good results and they obviously think a lot of him here.”
