Harriet Dart closes in on Australian Open as Gabriella Taylor and Naomi Broady fall in qualification

The British No 4 is now just two wins away from the main draw in Melbourne after battling past Chloe Paquet

Harriet Dart is two wins away from the main draw at the Australian Open (REUTERS)

Harriet Dart kept her bid to qualify for the Australian Open on track but fellow Britons Gabriella Taylor and Naomi Broady fell by the wayside.

Dart, the British No 4, battled past Chloe Paquet of France in three sets to move within two wins of the main draw.

Having taken the first set, things looked bleak for 22-year-old Dart when she lost the second and dropped serve in the opening game of the third.

But the world number 132 fought back to seal a 6-3 4-6 6-2 victory in one hour and 53 minutes.

Taylor failed to progress to the second qualifying round after a bruising defeat to Kristie Ahn of the United States.

The 20-year-old lost the opening four games and dropped serve again in the seventh in a one-sided first set.

The second set got off to better start with Taylor breaking Ahn in the first game, but it proved to be a brief fightback as she bowed out 6-1 6-1.

Naomi Broady also fell at the first hurdle in her bid to qualify for the first grand slam event of the year.

The 28-year-old from Stockport dropped the first set against world number 158 Ysaline Bonaventure of Belgium but took the second to level the match.

Gabriella Taylor’s bid to make it to the main draw is over (Getty Images for LTA)

However Broady, the British No 7, eventually went down 6-4 3-6 6-3 in one hour and 36 minutes.

PA