John Millman will face world No.16 Karen Khachanov on Tuesday evening at the Auckland Classic in a stiff test of his Australian Open credentials.
Millman, the world No.47, beat American qualifier Michael Mmoh 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in a late-night outing in the first round of the grand slam lead-up event.
Tuesday’s victory improved Millman’s record to 3-0 for the year in singles play, after two wins for Australia at the ATP Cup.
The Queenslander defeated Canada’s world No.21 Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets and unheralded Greek Michail Pervolarakis in a third-set tiebreak while on national team duty.
Khachanov, the third seed in Auckland, was also in action at the ATP Cup, winning four matches before losing a quarter-final tie to Dusan Lajovic of eventual winners Serbia.