Two Brits progress in Aus Open qualifiers

Dan Evans and James Ward have both progressed to within two victories of making the draw for the Australian Open, having progressed in the first found of the qualifiers.

Evans’ win saw him lose serve just once during his match with Italy’s top seed Luca Vanni. He defeated Vanni 7-6 (7-5) 6-4, and will face Israeli Amir Weintraub in round two of three.

Evans, 25, was born in Birmingham and turned pro in 2005. The Englishman is currently ranked 185th in the world, and reached a career high of 123rd in February 2014.

Ward was also in impressive form as he unleashed 16 aces in 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 victory over Canada’s Peter Polanski.

Born in England’s capital city, London, Ward reached a career high of 89th in the world in July 2015, and currently sits 155th at 28 years of age.

The Australian Open starts on Monday and marks the start of a new season of Tennis.

There was a pre-tournament scare for Aussie Nick Kyrgios as he pulled out of the opening match at the Kooyong Classic. David Goffin was awarded victory as Kyrgios pulled out with a reported foot injury, but later let his fans on Twitter know that it was just precautionary: