British No.4 Kyle Edmund is on the brink of qualifying for the main draw of the French Open after dismissing Romania's Victor Hanescu in a hugely impressive performance.
Edmund won 6-1 6-2 over the 6ft 6in Romanian, who reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros in 2005. An energetic Edmund proved too powerful as he brushed Hanescu aside and forced a number of break points, which he took in the fourth and sixth games of the first set.
Edmund progressed through three qualifying rounds at the Australian Open in January and will need just one more victory to qualify for the main draw in Paris. He currently sits at a career-high world ranking of 121 and has reached the quarter-finals of the last three clay court Challenger events.
"It was really good," Edmund said. "He's been around for a while and made the quarter-finals here, so he obviously can play well here and on clay.
"He's tall and has a good serve, so I was very wary of those things and had to give him full respect. I knew that if I put my game on court I'd have a good chance. I played really well and I'm happy with my form going into Friday."
Adrian Menendez-Maceiras or Jordi Samper-Montana await Edmund in the final qualifying round - win that and the Brit is through to the main draw, which starts on Sunday.
"It would be great if I qualify," Edmund added. "I want to be playing in the main draw of slams, but the way I'm going to get there is by my game improving.
"Every day I'm just trying to get better. It's not just about this tournament, it's about where your game's at in six months or a year."
The straight-sets victory follows the news that Edmund - along with James Ward - has been awared a wildcard for the Aegon Championship at Queen's Club before Wimbledon.
Elsewhere, Jo Konta was also on winning form, beating Elizaveta Kulichkova 7-6 6-3 to set up a third-round qualifying match with France's Clothilde De Bernardi.
"I'm really happy to get through that one," Konta said. "I stayed tough out there, she's really tough to play, she doesn't give you much rhythm and she takes time away from you.
"I had to really scramble today and take my chances where I could and that's why I was so pleased at the end."
It was bad news for Naomi Broady, though, who was easily beaten, 6-1 6-1 by Australia's Anastasia Rodionova. Brydan Klein, another Briton, joined her in falling out of contention for the main draw after a 6-3 6-1 loss to Facundo Arguello of Argentina.
Meanwhile, a new French Open record has been set for the longest ever qualification match after Andrea Arnaboldi beat home favourite Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4 3-6 27-25.
World No.188 Arnaboldi clinched victory after the 52-game decider at Roland Garros, a match which took a marathon four hours 26 minutes to complete.
The result breaks the record for the most number of games played in a French Open qualifier, which previously stood at Daniel Nestor's 4-6 6-3 22-20 victory over Thierry Guardiola in 1996.