LONDON (AFP) - British number one Cameron Norrie made a winning start at the Auckland Classic and Jack Draper produced a stunning comeback to progress in Adelaide.
Norrie, runner-up last year in the city where he grew up, defeated Frenchman Luca Van Assche 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 6-1.
Draper survived two match points to beat Miomir Kecmanovic in three sets - but Dan Evans lost to Alexander Bublik.
Meanwhile, Emma Raducanu withdrew from a second exhibition match, days before the Australian Open starts on Sunday.
Raducanu, who pulled out of a charity match in Melbourne on Tuesday, will no longer play 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva at the Kooyong Classic on Thursday as she continues to feel some soreness in her first weeks back on tour.
That is not expected to affect the 2021 U.S. Open champion’s participation at the Australian Open, where she is set to make her Grand Slam return after missing much of 2023 following ankle and wrist surgeries.
There were wins for Britons Harriet Dart, Francesca Jones and Oliver Crawford in Australian Open qualifying - but Heather Watson and Jan Choinski saw their hopes of competing at the first major of the year ended.
The draw for the 2024 Australian Open takes place in Melbourne on Thursday.
An emotional Norrie was close to tears after losing his second Auckland final to France’s Richard Gasquet one year ago.
The 28-year-old, who has a Scottish dad and Welsh mum, was born in South Africa and brought up in New Zealand - the nation he represented as a junior.
Also beaten by American Tennys Sandgren in the 2019 title decider, the world number 19 was made to work hard at the start of his latest bid for a trophy he would like to win so dearly.
Norrie missed a match point in the tie-break of a second set edged by teenager Van Assche, who then broke at the start of the decider.
But Norrie responded emphatically to that setback and closed out the match in impressive fashion by winning six consecutive games.
“I think it was exactly what I needed. I had to fight hard and the crowd got behind me,” said Norrie, who plays Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo in the last eight.