James McGee, the Irish number one, is two wins away from the main draw at the Australian Open.
McGee defeated Croatia's Matija Pecotic in straight sets, 7-6, 7-5 to set-up a clash with France's Vincent Millot. The Dubliner will go into the match as an underdog, against a player ranked 52-places higher in the ATP Rankings.
Both McGee and Pecotic broke each other's serve three times in the opening set, before the right-hander won the tiebreak 7-3. In the second set, the Dubliner never trailed, breaking Pecotic's serve in the 12th game to win the match.
Great 1st Round win today at the qualifying of @AustralianOpen ! Next match Friday. Thanks for the support! #ausopen ðŸ‘🼠pic.twitter.com/a1t8nXsE4y
— James McGee (@jamesmcgee01) January 11, 2017
The 29-year-old is the only Irish player in the senior draw. He is looking to go one better than last year, when he lost in the final qualifying round to Germany's Daniel Brands.
Having won in Melbourne on Wednesday, McGee will return to court on Friday looking to claim another scalp. He has never played Millot in competitive action.
McGee has reached the main tournament of one Grand Slam in his career. In 2014, he lost to Kazakhstan's Aleksandr Nedovyesov in the first round at the US Open.
