James McGee one win away from Australian Open

Ireland's James McGee is just one match away from a place in the main draw of the men's singles in the Australian Open. McGee, who won his opening match in the Melbourne Qualification tournament in straight sets, took three sets to beat Moldovan Radu Albot and earn a place in the third round.

McGee dramatically dropped the first set 1-6 to the 10th seed before going about his work with impressive style, holding his opponent to just one game in the second set for 6-1 and almost doing the same in the third.

The Castleknock right-hander played his big moments perfectly, converting all four of his service break points in the match. Controlled and composed he won the third set 6-2 and the match.

The Irishman also hit just four unforced errors in a tidy match, which sets him up against Germany's Daniel Brands (in the early hours of Saturday morning Irish time), who is seeded 30th for the competition and currently ranked 151 in the world. Like McGee's previous opponent, Brands was once ranked inside the top 100 with a career high of 51.

Return of serve is likely to be a deciding factor against the 6’5’’ 28-year-old, who made it to the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2010, his best ever showing in a Grand Slam.

A win would put the Irish number one into the main draw in Australia for the first time in his career, having previously qualified for the US Open main draw in 2014.