Melbourne VIC, Australia, 22 December 2016 | Tennis Australia

Congratulations to the following towns on securing an Australian Open 2017 player to represent them during the Grand Slam.

Towns received eligibility to enter this competition by hosting a Free Tennis Day in 2016, with all eligible clubs going into a ballot for their chance to secure main draw players.

Remember, if you want to interact with this competition, tag Tennis Australia and Australian Open on social media using #GetCourtUp

Here is the most recent player and town allocation as at 15/01/17:

Leaderboard and draw details

The final draw was conducted by random ballot, based on eligible clubs who had registered a Free Tennis Day in 2016. The No. 1 option was decided by a randomly selected process, the outcome was that Angelique Kerber was selected as the first player, deciding the order of Female/Male for the rest of the draw.

All eligible tennis towns in Australia will be match with a player in the main singles draw, effectively becoming an official cheer squad for ‘their’ player at Australian Open 2016 [128 men and 128 women]. Any remaining players will be redrawn in a second ballot, which may give towns two players.

The competition closed Wednesday 21 December at 11.59pm AEST.

WOMEN’S

There are a total of 108 direct acceptances in to the women’s single draw, based on the player rankings from the 8 December.

Wildcards (up to 8) – the players granted wild cards will be allocated as wildcards are announced.  Town representatives will be notified accordingly.

Qualifiers (12) – The qualifiers will be allocated their towns once the qualifiers are confirmed.  Town reps will be notified accordingly.

MEN’S

There are a total of 104 direct acceptances in to the Men’s singles draw, based on the player rankings from the 8 December.

Wildcards (up to 8) – the players granted wild cards will be allocated when the wildcards are announced.  Town representatives will be notified accordingly.

Qualifiers (16) – The qualifiers will be allocated their towns once the qualifiers are confirmed.  Town reps will be notified accordingly.

WILDCARDS AND QUALIFIERS

ATP has 104 direct entries and WTA has 108 direct entries.

Each withdrawal is replaced with next alternate.

Protected rankings: the current ranked player is always first followed by the players on a protected ranking. When 2 or more players are on the same protected ranking they will be listed in last name alphabetical.

Wildcards will be announced prior to qualifying beginning on Wednesday 13 January. They will be listed in ATP/WTA ranking order. These will be listed below qualifiers.

WITHDRAWALS

If there are any player withdrawals the aligned/allocated town will be allocated a replacement player, generally next in line in rankings, depending on the time of replacement.

The Tennis team will notify the club/town representative notifying them of the lucky loser.

These replacement players are identified with * after their last name in the allocated list.

PRIZES FOR TOWNS

The major prize will be $5,000 for both the Women’s and Men’s champions’ towns. If there is more than one club in that town eligible for the competition, the prizemoney will be split between the clubs.