Doha (AP) – Cedric Marcel Stipe and Dustin Brown are missing a win to reach the main field of the Australian Open.

Stipe defeated Australian Rinki Hijikata 6: 4, 6: 2 in Doha and will now face Serbian Victor Troicki in his last qualifying match. Brown held up in his second match 6: 3, 7: 5 against Spain’s Carlos Taberner and faced American Maxime Chrissy in the decisive duel.

Yannick Madden, who lost 6: 2, 3: 6, 4: 6 against Chrissy was eliminated. Julian Linz and Maximilian Marterer also failed. For the women in Dubai, Antonia Lautner and Katharina Gerlach also called in for the second round. No German women tennis has made it to the main square of this year’s first Grand Slam tournament by qualifying.

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic and entry regulations to Australia, Melbourne will not qualify this year. After the competitions in Qatar (men) and Dubai (women), the professionals with their limited supervisory teams must travel to Melbourne between January 15-17 and be quarantined there for two weeks.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210112-99-998447 / 2