Swiss comeback star Patty Schnyder survived an early scare before progressing to the second round of the Launceston International.
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On a tough day for the big names which saw no.6 seed Alex Bolt knocked out and German Davis Cup player Tim Puetz withdraw with an injury, Schnyder battled hard before overcoming Australian Kaylah McPhee 1-6, 6-4, 6-4.
“A win is a win,” Schnyder said after the match.
“There’s things I need to do better of course but I’m happy to get through, it was tight and a long match.”
McPhee hadn’t been born when Schnyder played her first Grand Slam in 1996, yet it was the 20-year-old who dominated the match early, slowing down the points and producing a number of backhand passing shots on crucial points.
A lack of aggression cost McPhee in the second and despite fighting back from 5-0, she was unable to save a third set point as her 39-year-old opponent levelled the match.
The two players traded breaks early in the decider but Schnyder always looked the goods, grinding down a visibly worn-out McPhee despite dealing with blisters of her own.
“She was getting so many balls back and made me play five shots more than normal.
“I like it better if I get more speed on the ball - my opponent was playing kind of slow and really just counter-punching once in a while so I really had to do all the pace by myself.
“Eventually I wasn’t missing that much anywhere and I think she got more tired than me, because we were playing out every single point, it was rallies, rallies, rallies so it was a physical battle.”
Australians enjoyed some good results on Tuesday, with qualifier and former world no. 38 Marinko Matosevic ousting former junior Australian Open champion Brydan Klein in a third-set tiebreaker and no. 7 seed Jason Kubler crushing China’s Zhe Li.
Tasmania’s sole hope Harry Bourchier set up a round of 16 clash with Marcel Polmans after sealing a 7-5, 6-4 defeat of New Zealander Rubin Statham with four straight points on his opponent’s serve.
Wildcard Andrew Harris beat no. 4 seed Evan King in straight sets to set up a clash with fellow Australian first-round winner Andrew Whittington, while Maverick Banes ousted Melbourne-born US Open junior champion Omar Jasika.
Ben Mitchell also advanced to the next round by upsetting South Australian product Bolt, who is ranked more than 400 spots higher in the ATP rankings.
Play continues at 10am on Wednesday.