New York, NY, USA, 25 August 2018 | AAP/tennis.com.au

They came close, but no Australian hopefuls made it through the qualifying rounds to the main draw of the US Open.

Alex Bolt lost 6-4 6-2 to Yannick Maden, the German No.15 seed who had knocked out fellow South Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis in the previous round.

Marc Polmans fell to 7-5 6-2 to Frenchmen Ugo Humbert, the 24th seed.

Australia’s last women’s singles qualifying hope, Jaimee Fourlis, came the closest, taking the first set before going down to Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina 6-3 2-6 1-6.

Twelve other Australians – seven in the men’s event, five in the women’s – feature in the main draw, which kicks off Monday 27 August.