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Australia's John-Patrick Smith didn't hide his happiness after finally making a breakthrough at the Australian Open Wildcard Play-off. Smith, 30, saw off rising Australian star Max Purcell 6-4 6-4 6-1 in the final to secure a wildcard for the Australian Open.
In his seventh attempt at the Australian Open Wildcard Play-off, the 30-year-old finally won the event. In previous attempts, Smith came close to winning it all several times but fell just short each time. Smith was beaten in the 2015 Australian Open Wildcard Play-off final by Jordan Thompson and also lost to Omar Jasika in the final in 2017.
"Everyone else is saying, it’s got to be third time’s a charm. And obviously I try and ignore it,” Smith told Tennis Australia. “But it worked pretty well today — third time is a charm in this case," “I’ve had a couple of close qualifying last-round losses here, I think ’16 and ’17, so it’s a great feeling to get back there, and it kind of gives me two weeks before the Australian Open to get some matches under my belt here just before main draw. “The ultimate goal would be to do a couple of rounds here, which would be great."