Australian Open wildcards: Stan Wawrinka, Ajla Tomljanovic headline Melbourne awards

2014 Australian Open men’s champion Stan Wawrinka and home favorite Ajla Tomljanovic lead the wildcards for 2025’s first Grand Slam tournament, which begins January 12 in Melbourne.

Wawrinka defeated Rafael Nadal to win the first of three Grand Slam titles in 2014. He is joined on the men’s side by three Australians. World No. 175 Li Tu, who took Carlos Alcaraz to four sets at this year’s U.S. Open and world No. 168 Tristan Schoolkate, who was a tiebreak away from reaching the third round in New York join world No. 256 James McCabe, who played the Melbourne main draw in 2024.

The remaining slots go to world No. 416 Kasidit Samrej, who won the Asia-Pacific wildcard playoff; world No. 138 Nishesh Basavareddy, who won the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) Wildcard Challenge and a French male player, as part of a reciprocal arrangement between the Australian and French tennis associations. The French Tennis Association (FFT) announced Lucas Pouille Thursday December 12, but he is in line for a main draw spot if two players who have entered withdraw. In that case, the FFT would select another player. Those seven entries leave one vacant slot.

World No. 108 Tomljanovic, who has reached two major quarterfinals, is on a long comeback from a lingering knee issue. Her fellow Australians comprise world No. 107 Daria Saville, also on an upswing after a serious knee injury in 2022; Maya Joint, who reached the second round of this year’s U.S. Open and plays college tennis in Texas while ranked No. 116; two-time junior Grand Slam finalist Emerson Jones, ranked world No. 378 at age 16 and world No. 175 Talia Gibson.

Chinese player Zhang Shuai won the Asia-Pacific playoff, while Iva Jovic, the 17-year-old American who nearly knocked world No. 28 Ekaterina Alexandrova out of the U.S. Open, won the USTA Wildcard Challenge. Chloe Paquet is expected to receive the FFT wildcard and complete the eight slots available.

Seedings for the tournament will be based on the world rankings as of January 6; the draw is January 9 in Melbourne.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Tennis, Women's Tennis

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