Fiona Ferro holds the rare honour of facing the might of Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek back-to-back at Melbourne Park.
Three years ago, the Frenchwoman subdued future Wimbledon champion Rybakina before the recently crowned Roland Garros winner Swiatek had her measure in the third round.
It was a career-best run at the Australian Open in only her third appearance and followed a fourth-round showing at her home Grand Slam in a pandemic-affected 2020.
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On Friday, the 26-year-old cast aside a troubling 18 months on and off court with a third-round qualifying triumph over Polina Kudermetova.
“It means so much after what I went through the last few years. I was really relieved at the end because she's really tough to play,” the former world No.39 told ausopen.com.
“Injuries and also personal problems kept me away from the court for six months in 2022. I started last year where my ranking was 400 and I got back to the top 150.
“It was tough for me to play a smaller tournament but above everything I was happy to be back on court, even if it was an ITF $25k or $50K [event]. Now it means so much to me to be back in the main draw.
American wild card McCartney Kessler, world No.207, is Ferro’s first-round opponent and should the draw pan out she could run into Swiatek in the third round again at Melbourne Park.
Much has changed since the then-15th-seeded Swiatek ended her campaign in straight sets at that stage at AO 2021.
While the Pole has gone on to ascend the rankings and add three further majors, Ferro knew the player she later took a set off at US Open 2021 was special.
“She's different because every point is really tough to win,” Ferro said. “Even when she doesn't feel good she's still able to play some really good tennis.
“I played her twice actually. I played her also at US Open in 2021 and I was leading a set and 1-0 in the second set and she was crying. She wasn't feeling well at all but somehow she still managed to come back and to find a way to win the match. I think that's really her biggest strength.”
In other women’s qualifying results, three Ukrainian women – top seed Dayana Yastremska, 24th seed Daria Snigur and Yuliia Starodubtseva – reached the main draw, while two Czech teenagers – 10th seed Brenda Fruhvirtova and 22nd seed Sara Bejlek – qualified for the second year running.
AO 2023 girls’ singles champion Alina Korneeva downed 11th seed Anna Bondar to secure her Grand Slam debut, while second seed Renata Zarazua became the first Mexican woman in 24 years to secure her berth in an AO main draw after she rebounded from a set and a break down against Australian Destanee Aiava.
Storm Hunter was the sole Australian to advance from five who started the final round, while 22-year-old Swiss Lulu Sun and 18-year-old German Ella Seidel posted contrasting victories.
Seidel drew arguably the toughest first-round opponent in reigning champion and No.2 seed Aryna Sabalenka.
Three other women drew top-eight seeds. Canadian Rebecca Marino will face fifth seed Jessica Pegula, Yastremska will meet seventh-seeded Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova and Starodubtseva takes on sixth seed Ons Jabeur.