Sydney, Australia, 9 January 2022 | Leigh Rogers

Sydney Tennis Classic

Australian hope Chris O’Connell has progressed to the final qualifying round at the Sydney Tennis Classic.

The 27-year-old local recorded a 6-4 6-3 victory against seventh-seeded Italian Andreas Seppi in first-round qualifying action at the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre today.

O’Connell used his serve to control the match against the world No.102, firing nine aces in the 89-minute encounter.

The world No.175 now plays second-seeded Italian Stefano Travaglia for a main draw spot. The world No.78-ranked Travaglia scored a straight-sets win against Australian wildcard Matthew Christopher Romios today.

It was a tough day for Australian contenders, with O’Connell the only victor across men’s and women’s qualifying singles action.

Main draw matches, in both singles and doubles, begin tomorrow.

Sydney Tennis Classic

TODAY’S RESULTS
Men’s qualifying singles, first round
Christopher O’Connell (AUS) d [7] Andreas Seppi (ITA) 6-4 6-3
[2] Stefano Travaglia (ITA) d [WC] Matthew Christopher Romios (AUS) 7-5 6-1
[6] Sebastian Baez (ARG) d [WC] Moerani Bouzige (AUS) 6-3 7-5

Women’s qualifying singles, first round
[2] Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova (SVK) d [WC] Roisin Gilheany (AUS) 6-2 6-1
[3] Elena-Gabriela Ruse (ROU) d [WC] Alexandra Osborne (AUS) 6-3 6-0
[4] Oceane Dodin (FRA) d [WC] Isabella Bozicevic (AUS) 6-1 6-1
[5] Claire Liu (USA) d [WC] Alison Bai (AUS) 6-1 6-1
[7] Fiona Ferro (FRA) d [WC] Michaela Haet (AUS) 6-1 6-1
[8] Magdalena Frech (POL) d [WC] Alana Parnaby (AUS) 6-2 6-2
[10] Ena Shibahara (JPN) d [WC] Lisa Mays (AUS) 6-1 6-2
[11] Vivian Heisen (GER) d Alicia Smith (AUS) 6-1 1-6 3-0 ret.
Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN) d [12] Gabriella Da Silva-Fick (AUS) 6-3 6-0

COMING UP
Men’s qualifying singles, final round
Christopher O’Connell (AUS) v [2] Stefano Travaglia (ITA)

Men’s singles, first round
Alexei Popyrin (AUS) v Pedro Martinez (ESP)
[WC] Jordan Thompson (AUS) v Marcos Giron (USA)
[WC] Nick Kyrgios (AUS) v [7] Fabio Fognini (ITA)

Women’s singles, first round
[1] Ash Barty (AUS) v Bye
Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) v Qualifer
[WC] Astra Sharma (AUS) v [7] Ons Jabeur (TUN)
[WC] Priscilla Hon (AUS) v Jaqueline Cristian (ROU)

Men’s doubles, first round
[3] John Peers (AUS)/Filip Polasek (SVK) v Bye
Alexei Popyrin (AUS)/Matt Reid (AUS) v Pablo Andujar (ESP)/Pedro Martinez (ESP)
[WC] Moerani Bouzige (AUS)/Matthew Christopher Romios (AUS) v Simone Bolelli (ITA)/Fabio Fognini (ITA)
[WC] Nick Kyrgios (AUS)/Michail Pervolarakis (GRE) v Marcus Daniell (NZL)/Denis Kudla (USA)

Women’s doubles, first round
Alison Bai (AUS)/Alicia Smith (AUS) v [2] Shuko Aoyama (JPN)/Ena Shibahara (JPN)
Gabriella Da Silva-Fick (AUS)/Alana Parnaby (AUS) v [4] Alexa Guarachi (CHI)/Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA)
Astra Sharma (AUS)/Aranxta Rus (NED) v [WC] Michaela Haet (AUS)/Lisa Mays (AUS)
[WC] Isabella Bozicevic (AUS)/Alexandra Osborne (AUS) v Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS)/Natela Dzalamidze (RUS)

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