Andrew Whittington, Jordan Thompson and Daria Gavrilova provided bright points on an otherwise disappointing day for local hopes at the Australian Open.

Wildcard Whittington claimed the biggest victory of his tennis career, downing Czech Adam Pavlásek in the opening round, while Sydneysider Thompson broke through for a maiden Australian Open win, defeating João Sousa in a gutsy five-set triumph.

In the night session, Daria Gavrilova scrambled into the second round with a hard-fought win over Britain’s Naomi Broady.

But there were defeats for seven other local players on day two at Melbourne Park.

The 23-year-old Whittington posted a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 triumph in a match lasting two hours and 25 minutes, during which he frequently pressured his opponent into wayward passing shots.



Up two-sets-to-one, Whittington delighted the boisterous home crowd when he ran down a drop shot in the fourth set to force Pavlásek into playing another forehand from the net.

The Czech’s tense effort went long and handed the hometown hero the match-winning break. Pavlásek’s frustration was on display for all including umpire Katarzyna Radwan, who immediately warned the world No86 for smashing his racquet into the service box.

Whittington, who rose from the 500s into the top-200 last year, had never played a main draw grand slam match until Tuesday. The world No194 has guaranteed himself a cheque of $80,000, almost a third of his total career earnings before this week.

Thompson was down two sets to love against the world No37 Sousa but triumphed 6-7 (2-7), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 in three hours and 21 minutes in hot conditions as the Portuguese complained of dizziness.



The win was the 22-year-old’s first in four outings at Melbourne Park and earned him a match-up with eighth seed Dominic Thiem in the second round.

Gavrilova fought back against Broady to take the match 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 on Margaret Court Arena on Tuesday night. The Australian will next face Croatian Ana Konjuh.

Elsewhere though, there was heartache for local players, as more than half a dozen other players failed to make it past the first round before the start of the evening session at Melbourne Park.



Sam Stosur’s dismal losing streak continued in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 defeat to Britain’s Heather Waatson while wildcard Lizette Cabrera lost in straight sets to Croatian Donna Vekic on her grand slam debut.

The 19-year-old Queenslander went down 7-5, 6-2 to Vekic, who at No99 is is nearly 100 spots above Cabrera in the world rankings.

Vekic’s second-round opponent will be former world No1 Caroline Wozniacki after the Dane beat another Australian wildcard, Arina Rodionova. The 17th-seed made short work of Rodionova and needed just 67 minutes to oust the 27-year-old 6-1, 6-2.

In the men’s draw, there was little else to celebrate as Spanish veteran David Ferrer gave Omar Jasika a tennis lesson with a straight-sets victory.

Seeded 21st, Ferrer steamrolled the 19-year-old Jasika 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 in their Hisense Arena match. The 34-year-old Ferrer, who has made the semi-finals twice at Melbourne Park, is making his 15th successive appearance.

Chris O’Connell was ousted in straight sets by Bulgarian 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov later in the day. Dimitrov was untouchable on serve against the grand slam debutant, winning 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, 6-3 in two hours and one minute.

O’Connell stared down five break points to take the first set to a tiebreak but the 22-year-old wasn’t able to maintain that level as the match continued.



Alex Bolt’s grand slam main draw debut ended at the first hurdle with the qualifier going down in four sets. The 24-year-old, who gave the sport away last year only to make a comeback, hit 54 winners in the clash but was unable to win the points that mattered.



He broke back at 3-5 in the fourth set but was unable to push Yoshihito Nishioka much further, losing 6-4, 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 in two hours and 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, Blake Mott had a tough introduction to grand slam tennis after being crushed by 18th seed Richard Gasquet in straight sets. Mott, 20, lost 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 against the experienced Frenchman in one hour and 53 minutes on Tuesday at Melbourne Park.

The Australian wildcard saved two match points but was eventually overhauled by the consistent baseliner.