Two Aussies progress in French Open Qualifying

The men’s qualifying tournament at Roland Garros saw two Australians progress to the second round overnight.

Wayne Arthurs defeated Arvind Parmar of Great Britain 2-6 7-6(3) 10-8 and [23] Peter Luczak knocked out French wildcard Gary Lugassy 6-2 6-3.

Unable to advance were Chris Guccione, who was beaten 6-4 3-6 6-3 by [21] Alejandro Falla of Colombia, and Alun Jones who fell in three sets to Spaniard [16] Oscar Hernandez 3-6 6-1 6-3.

The men begin round two of qualifying tonight. Arthurs will play John Van Lottum of the Netherlands, while Luczak is up against young Frenchman Alexandre Sidorenko – the Australian Open 2006 junior champion.

Australia has three players in the women’s qualifying tournament, which also gets underway tonight. Nicole Pratt, seeded 21, takes on Frenchwoman Julie Coin and 21-year-old Casey Dellacqua faces [20] Yulia Beygelzimer of the Ukraine. Sophie Ferguson has a tough draw against [2] Eva Birnerova of the Czech Republic.

At the Istanbul Cup Australian Alicia Molik suffered a tough first round defeat to Austrian qualifier Tamira Paszek. Molik, who is on the comeback trail from a debilitating inner ear virus, received a wildcard for the tournament and began the match strongly before Paszek overhauled her to win 5-7 6-4 6-4.

Australian Players’ Head-to-Heads: Qualifying Day Two

[21] Nicole Pratt (QLD) versus Julie Coin (FRA)
Casey Dellacqua (WA) versus [20] Yulia Beygelzimer (UKR)
Sophie Ferguson (NSW) versus [2] Eva Birnerova (CZE)
*First meetings

Wayne Arthurs (VIC) versus John Van Lottum (NED)
Van Lottum leads Arthurs 1-0
1999 Singapore R32 Hard (I) Van Lottum 7-6 7-6

[23] Peter Luczak (VIC) versus Alexandre Sidorenko (FRA)
First meeting

Related Article:

Hewitt optimistic as Qualifying begins (Tues May 23)