With three wins on the same courts main draw matches are played on, qualifiers are always a threat at the Australian Open. Last year, 13 qualifiers ended up winning rounds in the main draw, with two of them—both women, Jennifer Brady and Mona Barthel—going all the way to the second week.
With that in mind, and in no particular order whatsoever, here are 10 players to watch in this year’s Australian Open qualifying tournament, which takes place this week:
1. Michael Mmoh (USA) - One of the most promising up-and-comers in American men’s tennis, Mmoh—a former junior No. 2—is fresh off the best week of his young career, coming out of qualifying and reaching his first ATP tour quarterfinal at Brisbane (and scoring the best win of his career along the way against a No. 33-ranked Mischa Zverev).
2. Sachia Vickery (USA) - If her first outing of the season is anything to go by, Vickery might not just be a threat in the qualifying, she may be a threat in the main draw. In Auckland last week, she not only reached the first WTA semifinal of her career, but she also scored the biggest win of her career against Agnieszka Radwanska. On Monday, she jumped to a new career-high ranking of No. 105.
3. Bernard Tomic (AUS) - Tomic had a difficult year in 2017, starting it at No. 26 and ending it at No. 140. But the former World No. 17 and Wimbledon quarterfinalist is hoping to turn those tides this year. He’s played well at the Australian Open before—he’s been to the third round or better six times, including the last three years in a row—but this is his first time in 10 years playing the qualifying.
4. Vasek Pospisil (CAN) - Anyone who’s been to a Wimbledon quarterfinal and gone as high as No. 25 in the world can always catch fire again, and Pospisil showed flashes of that former brilliance in 2017, stunning then-World No. 1 Andy Murray at Indian Wells and getting himself back into the Top 70. Since last summer he’s dipped back outside the Top 100, but he’ll try to bounce back in Melbourne.
5. Roberta Vinci (ITA) - Last season was a forgettable one on the tour for Vinci, but a year ago at this time she was ranked in the Top 20—and she was in the Top 10 the year before—which makes her incredibly dangerous in the qualifiers this week. Her best Grand Slam results have come at the US Open, most notably reaching the final in 2015, but she is a two-time doubles champion in Melbourne.
