Only a year ago, a then 17-year-old Donna Vekic scored one of the most promising results of her fledgling Grand Slam career, upsetting world No.21 Roberta Vinci in the opening round at Wimbledon.

With a game built on aggression - not to mention a blonde ponytail - it was logical the comparisons with Maria Sharapova would ensue.

While the results may not have mirrored that of a young Sharapova at the same age, the second-round showing at SW19 lifted her to a career-high No.62 in the world.

On Tuesday, with her world ranking having sunk to No.126, the Croatian set about clawing her way back into the Wimbledon main draw with a 7-6, 6-2 opening round qualifying win over Misa Eguchi.

“It was a tough match. She started very well. She was a little bit lucky at the beginning and I had to fight every point,” Vekic said after rallying from 3-5 down in the opening set against the Japanese player. “I’m really happy with the way I played that match.”

Long touted as among the crop of next big things, the Croatian’s progress has been steady since reaching a maiden tour final on the grass at Birmingham two years ago.

A string of first-round capitulations would litter the second half of her 2014 season, barring a lone standout achievement in September and a big one at that – her first title.

In winning the Malaysian Open, Vekic saw off Slovak former top-tenner Dominika Cibulkova in a third-set tiebreak final, but it was not until last month’s French Open that a glimpse of that form would return.

She reached her first Grand Slam third round where she fell to former champion Ana Ivanovic, having earlier beaten the No.31 seed, France’s Caroline Garcia.

“Yeah I was very happy and especially as it was on clay and grass is one of my favourite surfaces so I was really looking forward to Wimbledon,” Vekic said of the turnaround in form. “I hope I qualify now.”

In other late afternoon matches, former world No.11 Shahar Peer dug deep from a break down in the third set to down Ukraine’s Yulia Beygelzimer 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in her opening match, while two-time former Wimbledon quarter-finalist Tamira Paszek defeated Japan’s Risa Ozaki 7-5, 6-2. 

See Tuesday's Qualifying Results

In Gentlemen’s Singles Qualifying matches held over from a rain-interrupted Day 1 of qualifying, a trio of Australians continued a perfect start to make it five from five, with John-Patrick Smith, Jason Kubler and Ben Mitchell joining Luke Saville and John Millman from Day 1 in the second round of qualifying.

Czech Jan Mertl came through a mammoth tussle with Dominican Jose Hernandez-Fernandez 3-6, 7-5, 15-13, while American Ryan Harrison made a disappointing exit having taken the second set in his match against Guido Andreozzi, losing in three at the resumption of play.