India's top singles player Prajnesh Gunneswaran overcame a fighting Viktor Galovic in straight sets to move to the second round of the Australian Open qualifiers here on Wednesday.
The left-handed sixth seed Indian prevailed 6-4, 6-4 over the Croatian, ranked 228 as compared to 112 of his opponent.
"It was an average match, I played okay, It was a tricky match, stayed tough mentally and got the job done," Prajnesh said, reflecting on the win.
He will next face Spain's Enrique Lopez Perez, ranked 213th.
Prajnesh had a breakthrough 2018 in which he made four Challenger-level finals and won two titles. He also came close to making his first ever Grand Slam main draw appearance at the French Open but missed out.