JAMAICAN Dustin Brown advanced to the second round of the Australian Open qualifiers after a hard-fought straight set victory over Ivo Klec of Slovakia yesterday.

Brown, seeded No 19 for the qualifiers, had a 76 winning percentage points on his first serve and 47 per cent on his second, to prevail 7-5, 7-6 against the unseeded Klec, who was outclassed 7-2 in the tie-breaker in the second set.

The Jamaican converted four of eight break points and recorded eight aces in his opening match at Melbourne Park as he vies for a spot into the main draw of the year’s first Grand Slam.

If Brown, 25, qualifies he will become only the second Jamaican in history to play in a major slam since Richard Russell played in the 1964 Australian Open, then named at the time the Australian Championships.

Today the world 143-ranked Brown faces unseeded French player Guillaume Rufin, who defeated Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria, 7-6, 6-4. The winner will meet Spain’s Roberto Bautista-Aqut or Alexander Sidorenko of France.

The Australian Open, headlined by defending champion Rafael Nadal and world No 1 Roger Federer in the men’s section, serves off January 18 following the main draw tomorrow.