No lack of taste on the part of the Australian Open: Stan Wawrinka will be there for the first Grand Slam of his final year on the professional circuit. The winner of the 2014 edition has obtained an invitation to participate in his 20th and final Australian Major, the organizers of the Australian tennis tournament announced on Friday.
“Having the chance to play the Australian Open at the start of my last year on the circuit means a lot to me,” commented the 40-year-old Swiss, currently 156th in the ATP rankings.
It was in Melbourne that the former world number 3 won the first of his three Grand Slam titles, also including the 2015 French Open and the 2016 US Open. Wawrinka and Andy Murray are the only two players to have won three Grand Slam titles during the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic period of Big3 domination.
Kyrgios pas in simple
Nick Kyrgios will only play doubles in the first Grand Slam event of the year. The enfant terrible of Australian tennis had announced that he was not physically fit to play singles in Melbourne after his long absence due to injury. The last two wildcards were awarded to Australians Jordan Thompson (113th in the world) and Chris O’Connell (114th). Kyrgios will, however, play the doubles tournament associated with his compatriot and friend Thanasi Kokkinakis. The pair won the Australian Open in 2022.
The Wimbledon 2022 finalist has had three years ruined by physical problems. He is trying to return to the circuit but he lost his first match since last March, in the first round in Brisbane this week against the American Aleksandar Kovacevic. The former 13th in the world, now 670th, was hoping for a wildcard to set Melbourne on fire as usual, but he ended up declaring himself insufficiently ready for the singles.
“I decided to focus on the doubles this year at the Australian Open,” he himself announced on social networks. I’m in good shape and back on the courts, but five-set matches are a different story and I don’t feel ready enough to go the distance yet. »
