The first two wild-cards for the Australian Open have been announced!
The Australian Open will be played in mid-January 2025, but the first invitations have already been snapped up. Indeed, the Asia-Pacific play-offs were played this week to secure a wild-card entry into the main draw in Melbourne.
In the women's category, it was none other than Grand Slam regular Shuai Zhang who won the invitation. She beat world number 539 Hanyu Guo (7-6, 0-6, 7-5) in the play-off final.
The Chinese player, quarter-finalist in Australia in 2016, will be playing in the 13th Grand Slam of her career.
For the men, the wild-card was won by Kasidit Samrej, ranked 413th in the world. The Thai player beat Rio Noguchi (ranked 302nd in the world) in three sets (6-4, 4-6, 6-1) to enter the main draw in Melbourne.
He will be the first Thai to appear at a Grand Slam since Danai Udomchoke in 2012.
Australian Open 
When tennis stars change courts: from Noah the singer to Safin the deputy, another match – the battle of reinvention 
As a laboratory for tomorrow’s tennis, does the Next Gen Masters have a future? 
Tennis: the little-known truths about the offseason, between rest, stress and physical survival 
What if tennis lost its soul? The case of robotized officiating, between tradition and a dehumanized modernity 