Silvia Soler-Espinosa underlined her status as the top seed in qualifying with a solid 6-2 6-3 victory over US teenager Taylor Townsend.
Having impressed in her first-round win over Carina Witthoeft, Townsend looked capable of an upset against the Spaniard. But Soler-Espinosa proved too consistent from the back, refusing to let the 18-year-old rock her rhythm.
The result means that Soler-Espinosa is effectively through to the main draw. Five players will progress from qualifying on Sunday following Varvara Lepchenko’s withdrawal – the four winners and one lucky loser. As the highest-ranked player in the draw, the world No.65’s place is secure.
Soler-Epinosa will face US opposition once more in the form of No.7 seed Madison Brengle, who breezed past Britain’s Naomi Broady 6-3 6-0.
No.3 seed Johanna Larsson will take on Argentina’s Paula Ormaechea for a place in the main draw on Sunday after both closed out comfortable straight-sets wins, but No.2 seed Kiki Bertens blew a fuse against Barbora Krejcikova, who notched up an upset 6-4 7-6(1).
Bertens started well against the Czech but struggled to keep it together as the match turned late in the opening set. She called for the trainer to treat a foot injury but after battling to a tie-break Krejcikova’s consistency drove her to distraction.
Up next for the Czech is Spaniard Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor, who ousted No.6 seed Kateryna Kozlova with ease, 6-0 6-3.
There was no quick win for Lin Zhu, however, who battled back against Vitalia Diatchenko to win 2-6 6-3 6-4 to set up a showdown with Richel Hogenkamp of the Netherlands, who advanced when An-Sophie Mestach withdrew with an abdominal injury.
Saturday also featured the Hobart International Kids Tennis Day presented by Nickelodeon. Spongebob SquarePants and Squidward were on hand to show off their tennis skills for American Christina McHale, with Nick Jr’s Dora the Explorer and Diego also joining over 300 kids on court at the Domain Tennis Centre.