Australian Akira Santillan took a step closer to the main draw of the US Open with victory on Tuesday at Flushing Meadows.
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Santillan advances in US Open qualifying
New York, NY, USA, 23 August 2017 | tennis.com.au
Akira Santillan on Tuesday sealed a spot in the second round of US Open qualifying after seeing off in form Austrian Sebastian Ofner.
Santillan rallied to defeat the 23rd seed 3-6 6-3 6-4 to set up a meeting with Belarusian Uladzimir Ignatik.
Ofner had burst to prominence of late with a run to the third round of Wimbledon and then a semifinal on home soil at the ATP event in Kitzbuhel.
> US Open men’s qualifying draw
But Santillan is having a career-best year of his own, hitting a best-ever ranking of No.160 last month after beginning the year outside the top 200.
Since Wimbledon, he won his first Challenger title in Winnetka as well as qualifying for the ATP event in Los Cabos, where he reached the second round.
Two other Aussies, Marc Polmans and Blake Mott, fell at the first hurdle in qualifying.
Polmans fell 6-2 0-6 6-2 to American Bradley Klahn while Mott found Switzerland’s Marco Chiudinelli too strong in a 6-3 6-2 defeat.
On Wednesday, five Aussies – Sam Groth, Destanee Aiava, Matt Ebden, Lizette Cabrera and John-Patrick Smith – will play their first round qualifying matches.
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