US invasion continues as Brengle battles through qualifying

11 January 2015, by Michael Beattie

Madison Brengle brought the number of Americans in the Hobart International draw up to six by beating top seed Silvia Soler Espinosa 6-4 6-3 in the final round of qualifying.

Brengle, the world No.91, outserved her opponent by firing three aces and winning 67% of points off her first delivery to book her place in the main draw, where she will face 2012 champion Mona Barthel on Monday night.

> Check out the main draw in full here

Soler Espinosa’s place in the main draw was all but assured following Varvara Lepchenko’s withdrawal on Friday. As the highest-ranked player in the final round of qualifying, the Spaniard was guaranteed a lucky loser spot regardless of the result against Brengle, and will now face No.2 seed Zarina Diyas.

Johanna Larsson’s reward for beating Argentina’s Paula Ormaechea 6-3 6-3 is a match-up against Saisai Zheng, while Richel Hogenkamp will take on former world No.5 Daniela Hantuchova in Monday’s first night session encounter after ousting Lin Zhu 6-4 6-3.

Kateryna Kozlova weathered a second-set fightback from Barbora Krejcikova to prevail 6-0 7-5 and book a shot at former Wimbledon semi-finalist Kirsten Flipkens.

> Hobart International main draw singles (PDF)