Mitchell, the No 3 seed, came from a set down against Luke Saville, who was hurt during the final, to win 5-7, 6-0, 6-1.

The eight qualifiers for the first of two Wollongong International tournaments will be decided on Monday, when play starts at 10am.

The second round of qualifying was delayed by five hours on Saturday, with several players forced to play two matches on Sunday.

“We were a bit worried again (on Sunday), but we managed to get through,” he said. 

“The standard has been really high in the qualifiers, so it’s a good sign before the start of the main draw, there’s been some really close, entertaining matches.”

American Marcos Giron, the top-seeded player in the qualifying rounds moved through to today’s showdown with Zach Itzstein after beating Australian Lucas Vuradin 6-0, 6-1.

The main draw will be released on Monday afternoon after the eight qualifiers are determined, with the final played on Sunday.

World No 243 Connor Smith, a 24-year-old from the US, is the Wollongong International top seed.

Meanwhile, the Wollongong association unveiled perpetual trophies for the tournament, with the doubles prize named after tour professional Ashley Fisher.

Fisher has returned to play at the ITF Futures event in a bid to relaunch his doubles career, which took him to a US Open semi-final in 2006.