Prajnesh progresses, Ramkumar, Ankita ousted from Australian Open qualifiers

Melbourne : Prajnesh Gunneswaran advanced to the second round of the Australian Open qualifiers but Ramkumar Ramanathan frittered away a one-set advantage to make an exit, here Tuesday.

Prajnesh knocked out local wild card Harry Bourchier 6-2 6-4 to set up second round clash with Germany's Yannick Hanfmann. Ramkumar led against 15th seed Argentine before losing steam to suffer a 6-4, 4-6, 1-6 defeat to yet again collapse in the Qualifiers of a Grand Slam.

Prajnesh had last year competed in main draws of all four majors of the season. Sumit Nagal, who enjoyed a breakthrough 2019 season, will open his campaign in the qualifiers against Egypt's Mohamed Safwat.

In the women's qualifiers, India's lone contender Ankita Raina went down fighting 2-6 6-7(2) against Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova.

'Stay indoors'

Melbourne's city government urged residents to "stay indoors, keep windows and doors shut, and keep pets inside" on Twitter.

Tennis officials have said there is little chance of the Australian Open being delayed, but that air quality is being monitored and umpires can halt matches to protect players' health.

Practice on outside courts was suspended but big-name players including world number one Rafael Nadal were not affected, with their hit-outs going ahead on Rod Laver Arena with the roof closed.