Somdev Devvarman moved one step ahead in the his quest of making the main draw of the Australian Open, overcoming a fighting Prakash Amritraj in the first round of the qualifying event in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Somdev, seeded 28, tamed his unseeded compatriot 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the opening round.
The 154th ranked Indian next takes on 207th ranked Lukasz Kubot of Poland in the second round.
Kubot beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 in their first round match.
Somdev broke Amritraj twice in the hard fought match and dropped his serve once apart from saving one breakpoint.
India's 196th ranked Sunitha Rao will open her women's singles qualifying campaign against America's Melanie Oudin, who is ranked 173 in the WTA list, on Thursday.