Martín Landaluce, the only Spaniard in Q3 in Melbourne | ATP Tour

Australian Open

Landaluce, the only Spaniard in Q3 in Melbourne

He will look for a ticket to the main draw of the Australian Open against Svrcina

January 08, 2025

The Grand Slams are not foreign territory for Martin Landaluce. Without going any further, at the 2022 US Open he was crowned champion in the junior category. Now, the 18-year-old Spaniard has never played in a draw in a tournament of this category and is just one victory away from doing so at the 2025 Australian Open.

The Madrid native advanced this Wednesday at Melbourne Park to the third round of the qualifying phase, after defeating the Japanese James Trotter 6-4, 7-5 in one hour and 46 minutes.

Landaluce, who participated as a reserve in the last edition of the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, knew how to take better advantage of the opportunities that his rival gave him. A break in the third game was enough to score the first set, while in the second he had to manage his nerves to seal the victory.

With 6-4, 5-4 and his serve to close the match, he saw his rival break his serve for the first time (5-5). But the Spaniard knew how to recover with two more games in a row to advance to the third round of qualifying.

In his first adventure in the qualifying phase of a Grand Slam, he will try to put the cherry on top against Dalibor Svrcina, who had to work his second round match against Khumoyun Sultanov 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in an hour and 43 minutes.

The 22-year-old Czech has more experience in this type of tournaments. Already at the Australian Open he managed to overcome the previous one and win his first match in a Grand Slam main draw against Jaume Munar.

Landaluce remains the last Spaniard with a chance to advance to the main draw from qualification, after the defeats in the second round of Carlos Taberner, Javier Barranco Cosano and Alejandro Moro Canas.

Taberner could not beat the British Billy Harris, who won 6-1, 6-2 in one hour and eleven minutes. For its part, Barranco experienced a dramatic outcome in the third set tie-break that fell to the Italian Francesco Passaro 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(8), while Moro Cañas lost against the favorite No. . 4 Christopher Eubanks 6-3, 6-3.