New York, NY, USA, 22 August 2018 | tennis.com.au

Thanasi Kokkinakis defeated Bernard Tomic in a hard-fought three-setter to progress to the second round of US Open qualifying on Tuesday.

The South Australian won 3-6 6-0 6-3, levelling his head-to-head record against Tomic at 2-2 after also beating the Queenslander in their most recent meeting in the second round at Roland Garros in 2015.

Close to 1,000 fans watching Kokkinakis vs Tomic in Court 12 #USOpen qualies pic.twitter.com/DYfJ5wIMdN

— Randy Walker (@TennisPublisher) August 21, 2018

After dropping the first set, Kokkinakis won nine straight games to open a 3-0 lead in the third set before Tomic made the final stages competitive.

Tomic had three break points in the seventh game to get the set back on serve, but Kokkinakis held to extend his lead to 5-2 and served it out two games later before a large crowd.

Joining Kokkinakis in the second round was Alex Bolt, who ousted Stefano Napolitano 6-3 7-5.

> Men’s qualifying draw

The win sets up a second-round match with 31st seed Marcelo Arevalo, while Kokkinakis next faces No.15 seed Yannick Maden.

Should Bolt and Kokkinakis win those matches, they would meet in the final round of qualifying, just as they did at Wimbledon – a match won by Bolt in four sets.

John-Patrick Smith was unable to join his compatriots in the second round, falling 6-3 6-2 to sixth seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland.

> Women’s qualifying draw

In the women’s event, Arina Rodionova scored an impressive victory to advance at Flushing Meadows.

Rodionova got past 15th seed Mariana Duque-Marino 7-5 7-5 and will next meet American wildcard Jessica Pegula for a place in the final round.

Later on Tuesday, Priscilla Hon fell 6-0 6-3 to Kathinka Von Deichmann of Liechtenstein.

> ORDER OF PLAY: US Open qualifying Day 2

Five more Aussies – Jaimee Fourlis, Destanee Aiava, Olivia Rogowska, Max Purcell and Marc Polmans – will play their first-round qualifying matches on Wednesday.