Xavier Malisse Australian Open Mens Qualifying Draw

Qualifying matches for the men’s singles draw are already underway and players are starting to drop out of contention as match points are won.

There are a couple of notable players in the draw, namely Stefan Koubek, the 15 seed, and Xavier Malisse, the number 1 seed.

Koubek, who turned 33 just over a week ago, has been to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open before although that was back in 2002.

He has advanced to the second round of qualifying while Malisse still awaits his first round qualifying match.

Malisse made headlines a couple months ago as part of a controversy surrounding the “Whereabouts” rule for ATP tennis.

While his career peaked about 8 years ago now with a semifinal appearance at Wimbledon in 2002, he has surged up the rankings in the last 6 months.  He may be a legitimate threat to win a match in the main draw down under should he survive qualifying and not get unlucky in the main draw.