Britain's Harriet Dart will now face Australian Kimberly Birrell on Thursday for a place in the main draw of the Australian Open, where Katie Swan won't be involved after losing to Viktoriya Tomova in her second qualifier.
Wednesday 12 January 2022 16:31, UK
Harriet Dart booked her place in the final round of Australian Open qualifying as she beat American Alycia Parks in three sets, while elsewhere British compatriot Dan Evans advanced to the quarter-finals of the Sydney Tennis Classic.
Dart responded impressively to dropping the first set to come out a 3-6 6-2 6-2 winner and set up a main draw decider against Australian Kimberly Birrell on Thursday.
The Brit found herself trailing in the third set before winning five successive games to progress as she looks to reach the main tournament for the third time in her career.
Dart lost to America's Grace Min in the first round of qualifying last year, having reached the second round of the main tournament in 2020 when she was eventually knocked out by Simona Halep.
Katie Swan's bid to qualify for the main draw meanwhile came to an end as she was beaten 6-0 7-5 by fifth seed Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova.
The Brit responded to being bageled in the first set by breaking her opponent for a 2-0 lead early on in the second, before Tomova broke in the final game to secure her place in the third round.
British number two Evans overcame Spain's world number 61 Pedro Martinez with a convincing 6-2 6-3 victory to progress to the quarters in Sydney, where he will now face either Dusan Lajovic of Serbia or America's Maxime Cressy.
Evans has now won all five of his games so far in 2022 and is still yet to face a break point through seven sets of tennis after beating Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany, Denis Shapovalov of Canada and John Isner of the US alongside a pair of doubles triumphs.
The 31-year-old was knocked out in the first round of the tournament last year after losing in four sets to fellow Brit Cam Norrie, who was eventually beaten by Rafael Nadal in the third round.
Evans' best performance in Melbourne came back in 2017 when he reached the fourth round only to lose to Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He hasn't been beyond the second round since.
Liam Broady is two wins away from the main draw and continues his qualifying campaign against JJ Wolf on Wednesday night.
