AUSTRALIAN OPEN DAY 2 QUALIES WRAP

Team USA will have 16 players, more than any other country, in the second round of qualifying for the 2018 Australian Open after half a dozen U.S. players punched their ticket on Day 2 in Melbourne. 
 

Among the winners were No. 24 seed Bjorn Fratangelo and No. 28 seed Noah Rubin, as the first round of qualies wrapped up Wednesday. They’re joined by Tommy Paul and Mitchell Krueger on the men’s side, plus Jamie Loeb and Allie Kiick in the women’s draw.
 

It gives the U.S. 10 women in the second round – the most of any nation – with one guaranteed to play in the third and final round of qualifying, when Danielle Lao faces Caroline Dolehide. There are also six American men into the second round of the Australian Open Qualifying Tournament, second only to Germany’s seven.
 

Fratangelo (pictured above) edged Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands, 6-4, 7-5, and will now play Stefano Napolitano of Italy in the second round.
 

Ranked No. 135, Fratangelo has twice played in the main down at Melbourne Park, losing in the first round in 2016 and 2017.
 

Rubin booked his place in Round 2 by taking out Aussie wild card Akira Santillan, 6-4, 6-3. He plays Kamil Majchrzak of Poland on Thursday. Rubin climbed to a career-high No. 125 in the world in October, and a run Down Under could help the world No. 141 climb back toward his personal best.
 

The Long Island native famously defeated 17th-seeded Benoit Paire in straight sets in his Australian Open debut in 2016 before contesting three close sets with 20-time major winner Roger Federer in the second round the following year.
 

Also advancing into Round 2 on Wednesday was 20-year-old American Paul, who beat Roberto Cid Subervi of the Dominican Republic, 6-4, 6-3, on Court 10, and Krueger, who claimed a tight two-hour, 36-minute battle against Federico Gaio of Italy, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5.
 

Paul, ranked No. 195, next plays No. 4 qualifying seed Paolo Lorenzi, while Krueger, who turns 24 on Saturday, will play Menendez-Maceiras for a spot in the final round.
 

In the women’s draw, Loeb defeated Australian wild-card recipient Abbie Myers, 6-2, 6-4, and Kiick cruised past Giulia Gatto-Monticone of Italy, 6-2, 6-2.
 

Twenty-three-year-old Loeb, who fell in the first round of qualifying in Melbourne last year and in the second round 12 months earlier, will face fifth-seeded Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine in the second round.
 

Kiick, who is hoping to make her Australian Open main-draw debut, plays No. 11 seed Lin Zhu of China in Round 2. She made her Grand Slam main-draw debut in New York in 2017, coming through three rounds of qualifying to book her place in the 128-player field.
 

Elsewhere on the second day of qualifying, Donald Young fell to Enrique Lopez Perez of Spain, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2; 2018 boys’ champion Sebastian Korda lost to Go Soeda of Japan, 6-1, 6-2; and Christian Harrison dropped a three-setter to No. 20 seed Adrian Menendez-Maceiras of Spain, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.