Five Australians will bid for their first singles wins at the Australian Open after Tennis Australia announced six players had been awarded wildcards to compete in the main draw.
Alexei Popyrin (world rank No.122), Jason Kubler (110) and Rinky Hijikata (168) have been selected for the men’s singles, while Storm Hunter – née Sanders – (242), Talia Gibson (342) and Olivia Gadecki (200) have been selected for the women’s singles.
Alexei Popyrin will compete in his third Aus Open after being awarded a main-draw wildcard. Credit:Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images
Tennis Australia typically hands out five of the eight singles wildcards available in each draw to Australian players, with the remaining spots given to players as part of the annual reciprocal arrangement Tennis Australia has with other grand slams.
This year there will be only four singles wildcards for the women’s competition available to Aussie players, after Venus Williams was awarded entry, despite playing only four singles matches this year – and winning just one set.
The other wildcard entrants announced so far are American players Caty McNally and Ben Shelton, as part of the deal Tennis Australia has with the United States Tennis Association.
Storm Hunter (nee Sanders) celebrates winning a point in Scotland against during the final of the Billie Jean King CupCredit:Getty
The wildcard entrants announced are predominantly up-and-comers: Popyrin, 23, is the only player of the six to have won a singles match at the Australian Open. He has reached the third round of the Australian Open twice, advancing to the last 32 in 2019 and 2020, and in a career-best 2021 season, his rank rose to world No.59.
The other five wildcard entrants are seeking their first singles wins at their home grand slam. Among them is 18-year-old Gibson, who started the year well outside the top 1000 and was named junior female athlete of the year at the Newcombe Medal awards night.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to play in a slam, and it’s such a special feeling to know that I’ve been given an opportunity to do this in my home country at the Australian Open” she said.
Twenty-one-year-old Hijikata made his grand slam debut at the US Open this year, and this season has jumped from No.375 to No.164 in the world.
“It’s going to mean the world to me to step on court in front of a home crowd and leave it all out there and hopefully do well,” Hikikata said.
After failing to qualify in the second round at the last Open, 20-year-old Gadecki will make her main-draw debut in January. Gadecki, who is mentored by Ash Barty, sat out the 2021 Australian Open due to the vaccination requirements in place at the time.
Hunter has played an impressive season in 2022, winning three doubles titles as well as three of four singles rubbers for Australia at the Billie Jean King Cup finals – a performance that won her the Billie Jean King Cup Heart award.
“I’m incredibly grateful to have the chance to play at home and want to continue playing at the level I was able to play at during the Billie Jean King Cup,” Hunter said.
There is one wildcard spot
Kubler’s campaign at Wimbledon, where he reached the last 16 in a career-best result, would’ve placed him comfortably inside the ranking cut-off – if not for the ruling body’s decision not to award ranking points at the grand slam. That decision followed Wimbledon banning Russian and Belarusian players in protest of the invasion of Ukraine.
There are two men’s wildcards available for Australians that are yet to be announced. John Millman (149), James Duckworth (159), Aleks Vukic and Omar Jasika have so far missed out on receiving drawcards. Jasika put his career on hold when he copped a two-year ban in 2018 for a positive cocaine test.
Dominic Thiem, the former world No.3 Austrian who is currently ranked at No.102, is also outside direct entry. If he misses out, it’s likely Tennis Australia will hand him a wildcard. If that happens, there will be one spot remaining for an Australian player.
Meanwhile, American world No.19 Frances Tiafoe has also signed on to play at the Kooyong Classicin the lead-up to the grand slam. He will join world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, Australian star Alex de Minaur and top-10 American Taylor Fritz.
with Marc McGowan
