Belgians learn their Australian Open qualifying opponents

Sunday's draw in Melbourne determined the pairings for the qualifying rounds of the Australian Open tennis, in which seven Belgians are taking part.

The only Belgian in the qualifying draw is Ysaline Bonaventure. The Liège player will face Spain's Aliona Bolsova in the first qualifying round. Bonaventure is aiming for a place in the main draw where Elise Mertens, Greet Minnen and Yanina Wickmayer have already secured their places.

Six Belgians will compete in the qualifying rounds on the men's side. David Goffin will play Italian Stefano Travaglia in the first qualifying round on Monday. The eighth seed will be joined by Zizou Bergs, Joris De Loore, Kimmer Coppejans, Gauthier Onclin and Alexander Blockx, who received an invitation from the organisers to participate in the qualifying.

Bergs will meet Czech Zdenek Kolar in the first qualifying round, De Loore will play Australian Li Tu and Coppejans will take on Argentine Thiago Agustin Tironte. If they both win, Bergs and De Loore will meet in the second qualifying round. In their first matches, Onclin and Blockx face Americans Aleksandar Kovacevic and Zachary Svajda.

In the men's doubles, Sander Gillé and Joran Vliegen are in the main draw. Elise Mertens will be paired with Taiwan's Hsieh Su-Wei, while Greet Minnen will team up with Yanina Wickmayer. Kimberley Zimmermann will be paired with Bibiane Schoofs of the Netherlands in the women's doubles.

^{© PHOTO AFP}