Paes qualifies for main draw

Mumbai, January 15: Leander Paes, ranked 137, qualified for the main draw of the Australian Open, beating Marcus Ondruska of South Africa 7-6 4, 7-6 5 in two hours four minutes in the third round qualifiers on Saturday. Paes had accounted for Ville Liukko of Finland and Frantisek Cermak of Czech Republic in the first and second rounds respectively.

According to information available here, it was not known whom Paes would run into in the first round of the main draw when matches begin on Monday.

Meanwhile, Nirupama Vadiyanathan conceded her third round qualifying match to Kerry-Anne Guse of Australia ranked 135 due to injury. Nirupama won the first set 6-3, but lost the second 0-6. The third set was level 1-1 when Nirupama pulled out.