Australians miss out in qualifying rounds
Not a single Australian player made it through the Australian Open qualifying.
Greg Jones of New South Wales came closest to a main draw berth, but fell at the final hurdle on Sunday.
The 21-year-old from NSW fought hard for almost two hours to make it through to the third round at Melbourne Park but succumbed to No.1 seed Blaz Kavcic, of Slovenia, 6-4 6-4.
Among 12 Australian men in the disappointing local performances in qualifying, the 253rd-ranked Jones and Queenslander John Millman, who lost in the second round, were the only winners.
Faring even worse were the women, with none reaching the third round and at least having a chance of winning one of the 16 places on offer in the main draw.
Sophie Letcher and Isabella Holland fell in their second-round qualifying matches in straight sets.
Australia's No.4 ranked female tennis player Sophie Ferguson, a wildcard recipient, has drawn Croatian qualifier Petra Martic in the first round. But 144th-ranked Martic did not drop a set during her three qualifying-round games.