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Australians James Duckworth and Kim Birrell are two wins away from reaching the US Open singles after making a successful starts to their qualifying campaigns.
Australians James Duckworth and Kim Birrell have made successful starts to their US Open qualifying campaigns, moving into the second round in New York with a pair of hard-earned victories.
Duckworth had to save a series of set points in a tense first-set tiebreaker before running away with a 7-6 (14-12) 6-2 victory over the 17-year-old American Trevor Svajda.
Birrell fought back impressively after losing the opening set in a tiebreaker to record a 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 6-2 win over Spaniard Leyre Romero Gormaz.
Duckworth reached the second round of the US Open main draw last year but has slipped outside of the world's top 100.
The 31-year-old is seeded 12th in qualifying and must win two more matches to advance to the singles proper at the season's final grand slam, which starts on Monday.
Duckworth next plays Frenchman Terence Atmane, while Birrell faces Latvian Darja Semenistaja.
West Australian Astra Sharma bowed out in the first round of women's qualifying with a 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 loss to Russian Marina Melnikova.
Marc Polmans, John Millman, Olivia Gadecki, Arina Rodionova, Jaimee Fourlis, Priscilla Hon and Lizette Cabrera all play on Thursday (AEST), hoping to bolster Australia's dozen-strong main-draw contingent headed by men's world No.13 Alex de Minaur.
