Rinky Hijikata was one of two Australians to taste victory on the second day of main draw action in Adelaide, but four compatriots suffered exits.
Despite suffering a three-set loss in the final round of qualifying, Hijikata was fortunate to claim a Lucky Loser place in the round of 32 after the withdrawal of Spain's Jaume Munar.
Coming up against former world No.7 David Goffin, on paper, it seemed a tricky assignment for Hijikata, but the 23-year-old dropped just three games in a 6-1 6-2 demolition.
"It definitely wasn't easy. David's been around for a long time, he's a class player, he actually diced me up late last year so I knew it was going to be very, very tough and I'm happy to get one back on him," Hijikata said when referring to his 6-1 6-3 defeat at the Winston-Salem Open.
It won't get any easier for him, with No.7 seed Brandon Nakashima waiting for a spot in the quarter-finals.
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One Aussie was guaranteed progression between James Duckworth and Li Tu, with the latter proving a touch strong to claim a 6-1 7-5 win.
As a result, the 28-year-old has jumped 11 places to a career-high No.168 in the live rankings.
"Really glad I got to get that done in the end," said Tu. "Duckworth is a really good competitor. I knew he would bring a high level in the second set."
World No.67 Aleksandar Vukic couldn't nudge over the line in a tight three-set defeat to America's Marcos Giron, while Western Australia's Tristan Schoolkate couldn't convert five set point opportunities in the opening set tie-break, including a 6-3 lead, handing a 7-6(8) 6-3 victory to No.8 seed Tomás Martín Etcheverry.
Aussies aside, the shock result on the men's side eventuated in the Alexander Bublik match, with the sixth-seed knocked out 6-4 6-2 with 12 double faults against Miomir Kecmanović.
In the WTA 500 event, two-time Australian Open semi-finalist Madison Keys bounced back from her quarter-final loss in Auckland, taking down world No.16 Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-2 6-1.
Reigning champion and former French Open winner Jeļena Ostapenko survived a scare, recovering from a set down to eventually move past Magdalena Fręch.
However, seventh-seed Anna Kalinskaya was forced to withdraw early in the second set through injury against the returning Belinda Bencic.
Aussies in action on Day 3:
Emerson Jones [AUS] v Daria Kasatkina
Thanasi Kokkinakis [AUS] v Tomás Martín Etcheverry
Christopher O'Connell [AUS] v Miomir Kecmanović
Rinky Hijikata [AUS] v Brandon Nakashima
Li Tu [AUS] v Benjamin Bonzi
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