Former teenage prodigy Destanee Aiava has avoided joining the flood of local exits in the Australian Open warm-up WTA tournaments in Melbourne, battling to victory over France’s Chloe Paquet.
Now aged 20, Aiava made her first grand slam appearance at Melbourne Park five years ago and is currently ranked 218.
Aiava blasted Paquet, the world No.187, off the court in the first set but had to scramble after a second set blip to post a 6-1 4-6 6-4 victory in their round one Gippsland Trophy clash.
She could meet world No. 2 and Australian Open semi-finalist Simona Halep in the third round.
Her win followed an earlier loss by Ajla Tomljanovic, who fell to another French player, Alize Cornet.
Australia’s No.2 behind Ash Barty, Tomljanovic got off to a flying start before Cornet clawed her way back to eke out a 5-7 6-1 6-3 victory in a grinding contest on Margaret Court Arena.
Aiava joins Daria Gavrilova as the only Australians to advance to the second round of the two WTA tournaments, with world No.1 Barty in action on Tuesday after a first-round bye.