Yuki Bhambri cleared the first hurdle in his quest to get a wild card for the 2014 Australian Open by beating Michael Venus 2-6 6-2 6-3 in his opening round of the play-off tournament, here today.
The second seed Indian, ranked 204, had beaten the New Zealander last month en route to his Challenger title win in Traralgon.
In Traralgon also Yuki had come from behind to beat Venus, who is ranked 388.
Yuki lost the first set as he failed to cash in on two breakpoints and lost his serve twice at the Luohu Tennis Club.
However, he came back well in the second as he did not face any break chance and broke his rival twice.
In the deciding third set, Yuki saved both the breakpoints he faced and converted two of the four chances he got on Venus' serve to move to the next stage.
He awaits winner of the match between qualifier Zhicheng Zhu and wild card Mao-Xin Gong.
