Somdev Devvarman [ Images ] moved one step ahead in the his quest of making the main draw of the Australian Open [ Images ], overcoming a fighting Prakash Amritraj [ Images ] in the first round of the qualifying event in Melbourne [ Images ] on Wednesday.

Somdev, seeded 28, tamed his unseeded compatriot 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the opening round.

• Spotted: Somdev and Cilic

The 154th ranked Indian next takes on 207th ranked Lukasz Kubot [ Images ] of Poland in the second round.

Kubot beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin [ Images ] of France [ Images ] 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 [ Images ] 196th ranked Sunitha Rao will open her women's singles qualifying campaign against America's Melanie Oudin [ Images ], who is ranked 173 in the WTA list, on Thursday.