Five locals entered qualifying over the weekend, but Curt Garwood was the only player able to make it past the first round of the Australian Pro Tour event at the Bendigo Bank Tennis Complex.

Corbin Fleming, Aidan Fitzgerald, Jessica Hartland and Tamara Wright all suffered first-up defeats.

Garwood impressed in defeating the higher-ranked Nathan Willis 6-2 3-6 7-6 in the opening round of qualifying.

In a tense battle, the left-hander produced some solid tennis in taking the third set tie-breaker 7-3.

In the second round, Garwood had chances to put pressure on Scott Puodziunas, but he failed to make the most of his opportunities and went down 6-4 6-4.

It was a similar story for Corbin Fleming in his first round clash against Kieren Thompson.

Fleming had chances in a close first set, but eventually lost it 7-5 in a tie-breaker. Thompson then dominated the second set 6-2 to take the match.

Fitzgerald, a former star Bendigo junior who is now based in Gippsland, had a tough draw against Nathan Byrnes.

Fitzgerald was far from disgraced in losing to Byrnes 6-4 6-4.

In yesterday’s women’s qualifying, Hartland looked set to win the opening set of her clash with Karen Filippou when she served at 5-3.

But Hartland couldn’t close out the set and Fillippou proceeded to win four-straight games.

She then marched through the second set 6-2.

Tamara Wright battled hard, but went down to Georgina Carswell 6-1, 6-1.

The final round of qualifying for men and women is today, with the winners to advance to tomorrow’s main draw.

The official draw will be announced this afternoon at a function at the Bendigo Bank Tennis Complex.

The main draw action this week starts at 10am with a feature singles match to be played at 5pm each night.

Wednesday is being promoted as Ladies Day where women have the opportunity to attend a luncheon and mix with some of the players. Places are still available and tickets can be booked by phoning 5442 5744.