Melbourne, Jan 12: Indian hopes to see a player competing in the men's singles main draw of the Australian Open were dashed with the straight-set defeat of Prakash Amritraj in the third and final qualifying round here on Saturday.

Amritraj, ranked 278 on the ATP ranking list, lost 2-6, 4-6 to German Denis Gremelmayr, who is 160 places above the Indian.

Rohan Bopanna had already bowed out after his second round defeat.

The Indian challenge in the singles event is once again confined to women's singles with Sania Mirza competing.

Sania, seeded 31st, opens her campaign against Uzbek wild card Iroda Tulyaganova.