Sam Groth and John-Patrick Smith have qualified for the main draw of the Indian Wells Masters, boosting Australia’s representation to five in the men’s singles event.
Groth plundered 18 aces in his 5-7 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 defeat of Russian Evgeny Donskoy to earn his place in the $US12 million ($A13.25 million) men’s and women’s tournament.
Smith downed Slovak Andrej Martin 6-3 7-5 to join Groth, Lleyton Hewitt, Marinko Matosevic and Matt Ebden in the men’s draw.
With Hewitt playing Ebden first-up, at least one Australian is guaranteed a spot in the second round.