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Australian world No. 216 Max Purcell felt a big relief after successfully making it past the Australian Open qualifying and earning a chance to play in his first main draw of a Grand Slam event. Purcell, who has never been ranked inside the top-200, delivered a big performance on Friday as he saw off No.
26 seed Jozef Kovalik 6-4 6-2 to clinch his third win of the week at Melbourne Park. Back in December, the 21-year-old Australian was just a win away from securing an Australian Open main draw wildcard but he fell short in the final of the Australian Open Wildcard Play-off.
"It’s a great feeling,” an emotional Purcell said after qualifying for the Australian Open, per Tennis Australia. “I’ve always been thinking ‘I think I’ll make one’, but with every Slam that goes past and you don’t, you’re just like ‘will it ever happen?’ This is, just, wow.
Such a relief. Especially to do it in my home country." With three wins under his belt, Purcell enters the Australian Open confident as he claimed: "I’m just going to treat it like any other match."