Tomic edges closer to French Open amid Aussie qualifying nightmare

If the Australian wins there, he will face the winner of Canadian Alexis Galarneau's match with Brazilian Pedro Boscardin Dias, ranked 194 and 232, respectively.Like Cina, they have never reached the French Open main draw.Tomic's win was a tonic after four losses.Dane Sweeny and Alex Bolt, seeded 23 and 28, respectively, suffered surprise defeats However, after Neumayer held to love, Bolt was broken in a 14-point, six-minute second-service game.Bolt won three points in the next four games as Neumayer wrapped up the match in 47 minutes total.Christopher O'Connell was beaten 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 6-4 by Argentine Facundo Diaz Acosta, who has a similar ranking.In the women's event, Taylah Preston, seeded 19, lost 7-5, 6-3 to Japan's Mai Hontana, ranked 82 places below her at 208.Elsewhere, 2018 finalist Sloane Stephens beat Carol Lee 6-3, 6-2 and veteran David Goffin, at his 14th and last French Open, beat 2018 junior champion Tseng Chun-Hsin 6-3, 6-1.Six more Australians will join the fray on Tuesday, local time: seeds Tristan Schoolkate (15), Priscilla Hon (23) and Maddison Inglis (31), James McCabe, and, in an all-Australian tie, Storm Hunter plays 17-year-old wildcard Tahlia Kokkinis from Sydney.Ten Australians have already earned a main-draw place through their rankings, with Adam Walton and Emerson Jones joining them via wildcards.Some of those warming up elsewhere in Europe had mixed fortunes.In the Hamburg Open, Alex de Minaur beat Fernando Cerundolo 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, but Rinky Hijikata lost 7-5, 6-2 to local hope Daniel Altmaier.In Strasbourg, Talia Gibson lost 7-6 (7-0), 6-3 to Magdalena Frech, but Daria Kasatkina defeated sixth-seed Liudmila Samsonova 7-5, 6-3.AAP