Melbourne Summer Set wildcards revealed
Several Australian players have received wildcards for ATP and WTA tournaments at Melbourne Park next week.
Melbourne, Australia, 30 December 2021 | tennis.com.au
Aleksandar Vukic, Chris O’Connell, Astra Sharma, Lizette Cabrera, Ellen Perez and Seone Mendez have been handed main draw wildcards at the Melbourne Summer Set.
The Melbourne Summer Set will be played at Melbourne Park next week. Qualifying action begins on 3 January, with finals on 9 January.
Vukic and O’Connell join previously announced wildcard Nick Kyrgios in the main draw of an ATP 250 tournament.
The 25-year-old Vukic is currently at a career-high ranking of world No.156 after reaching two ATP Challenger finals in November.
O’Connell’s 2021 season highlights include scoring a first top-50 win to reach the Australian Open second round and defeating world No.23 Jannik Sinner to advance to a maiden ATP-level quarterfinal at Atlanta.
They join fellow Aussies Alexei Popyrin and Jordan Thompson in a field headlined by world No.6 Rafael Nadal and former Australian Open semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov.
Melbourne’s Marc Polmans and promising 20-year-old Rinky Hijikata, who claimed four ITF singles titles in 2021, have received qualifying wildcards.
| Melbourne Summer Set ATP 250 |
||
| Singles main draw wildcards | Age | Rank |
| Nick Kyrgios (AUS) | 26 | No.93 |
| Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) | 25 | No.156 |
| Chris O’Connell (AUS) | 27 | No.175 |
| Singles qualifying draw wildcards | Age | Rank |
| Marc Polmans (AUS) | 24 | No.196 |
| Rinky Hijikata (AUS) | 20 | No.375 |
Two WTA 250 tournaments will be played concurrently during the Melbourne Summer Set, featuring Grand Slam champions Naomi Osaka, Emma Raducanu and Simona Halep.
Astra Sharma, who won her maiden WTA title and recorded her first year-end top-100 finish in 2021, and Lizette Cabrera have received main draw wildcards for the first WTA 250 event.
Kimberly Birrell, Taylah Preston and Zoe Hives have qualifying wildcards.
Birrell and Hives are both returning from long injury lay-offs, while 16-year-old Preston is set to make her WTA-level debut.
| Melbourne Summer Set WTA 250 #1 |
||
| Singles main draw wildcards | Age | Rank |
| Astra Sharma (AUS) | 26 | No.98 |
| Lizette Cabrera (AUS) | 24 | No.173 |
| TBC | ||
| Singles qualifying draw wildcards | Age | Rank |
| Kimberly Birrell (AUS) | 23 | No.741 |
| Zoe Hives (AUS) | 25 | No.624 |
| Taylah Preston (AUS) | 16 | – |
| TBC | ||
Ellen Perez, a qualifier at Wimbledon in 2021, and Seone Mendez, a 22-year-old who advanced to her first WTA-level quarterfinal in August, have received main draw wildcards for the second WTA 250 event.
Arina Rodionova, Olivia Tjandramulia and Gabriella Da Silva-Fick have received qualifying wildcards.
| Melbourne Summer Set WTA 250 #2 |
||
| Singles main draw wildcards | Age | Rank |
| Ellen Perez (AUS) | 26 | No.196 |
| Seone Mendez (AUS) | 22 | No.239 |
| TBC | ||
| Singles qualifying draw wildcards | Age | Rank |
| Arina Rodionova (AUS) | 32 | No.152 |
| Olivia Tjandramulia (AUS) | 24 | No.521 |
| Gabriella Da Silva-Fick (AUS) | 21 | No.592 |
| TBC | ||
The final wildcard recipients will be announced in coming days.
Tickets are now on sale for the Melbourne Summer Set. Prices begin at $19, with kids able to attend for free.
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