Thanasi Kokkinakis has steadied to seal passage into the final stage of Australian Open qualifying, surviving a wobble against second-round opponent Sebastian Ofner.

The South Australian defeated the Austrian world No.180, 6-4 7-6 (7-4), losing composure in the second set before rallying in the tiebreak.

Kokkinakis is the sole Australian winner to date in Thursday’s qualifying, with Isabelle Wallace and Lizette Cabrera crashing out.

Wildcard entrant Wallace claimed the biggest scalp of her career earlier in the week by beating Wimbledon finalist German Sabine Lisicki, but fell 6-3 6-2 to Dutchwoman Richel Hogenkamp in the second round.

Cabrera, the world No.234, lost 6-4 6-3 shortly after against Belgian Ysaline Bonaventure.

Four Australian women are yet to take the court as they bid to join Kokkinakis, the world No.145, in Friday’s third round.

Kokkinakis, controversially overlooked for a wildcard into the 2019 tournament, came out at Melbourne Park on a mission and won his first four service games to love.

It took the 22-year-old eight break points to finally crack the Austrian, allowing him to take a routine first set in 40 minutes.

Kokkinakis, the only Australian man left in qualifying, was playing it safe and as consistently as possible, staying at the baseline and allowing the Austrian to make the mistakes.

Up a break at 4-3, and yet to face a break point on his own serve, Kokkinakis’ biggest issue appeared to be his own footwork – rolling his ankle twice on show court three.

Then he dropped his head, losing six points in a row to be broken for the first time, giving up the chance at a trouble-free passage.

Kokkinakis, who claimed a career-defining win over Roger Federer last year before succumbing to injuries, was able to come from behind in the tiebreak and spare himself a third set, winning in one hour and 38 minutes.

On Friday, he’ll face Poland’s Peter Polansky, having beaten him last month in Brisbane, or Slovenian Blaz Rola for a place in the main draw.