Paris, France, 26 May 2023 | Leigh Rogers

Storm Hunter has earned a coveted main-draw berth at Roland Garros 2023.

The 28-year-old Australian recorded a hard-fought 7-6(3) 7-5 victory against American teen Ashlyn Krueger in final qualifying round action today in Paris.

World No.162 Krueger had the upper hand early, before Hunter recovered from a 3-5 deficit in the opening set.

Momentum swings continued in the second set. Hunter built a 5-2 lead, only for Krueger to save two match points in the process of leveling at 5-all.

But Hunter eventually closed out her third consecutive straight-sets victory in two hours and 12 minutes.

This marks the second time in Hunter’s career that she has earned her place in a Grand Slam singles draw through qualifying. The world No.202 also qualified in Paris two years ago.

The last Australian woman to complete successful qualifying campaigns at Roland Garros twice was Michelle Jaggard-Lai in 1994.

Aside from Hunter, only three other Australian women (Rachel McQuillan in 1996, Sophie Ferguson in 2010 and Olivia Rogowska in 2015) have qualified in Paris in the past 28 years.

Jaimee Fourlis had been hoping to join that list today too, but her qualifying quest fell just short.

French wildcard Fiona Ferro, a former top-40 player, recorded a 6-3 2-6 6-4 victory against the 23-year-old Australian.

Ferro fired 29 winners to Fourlis’ 10 in their two-hour and 22-minute final qualifying round battle.

Main-draw action in Paris begins tomorrow and will be broadcast live in Australia on the Nine Network and Stan Sport (from 6.30pm AEST).

Hunter’s first-round opponent is Nuria Parrizas Diaz, a 31-year-old Spaniard ranked No.93.

Aussies in action – Roland Garros

RESULTS
Women’s qualifying singles, final round
Storm Hunter (AUS) d Ashlyn Krueger (USA) 7-6(3) 7-5
[WC] Fiona Ferro (FRA) d Jaimee Fourlis (AUS) 6-3 2-6 6-4

COMING UP
Men’s singles, first round
[18] Alex de Minaur (AUS) v Ilya Ivashka
Max Purcell (AUS) v Jordan Thompson (AUS)
Jason Kubler (AUS) v [LL] Facundo Diaz Acosta (ARG)
Alexei Popyrin (AUS) v [Q] Aslan Karatsev
Chris O’Connell (AUS) v Taro Daniel (JPN)
[WC] Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) v [20] Dan Evans (GBR)

Women’s singles, first round
[WC] Kimberly Birrell (AUS) v [WC] Leolia Jeanjean (FRA)
[Q] Storm Hunter (AUS) v Nuria Parrizas Diaz (ESP)

> READ: Roland Garros 2023 singles draws revealed

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