The home-court advantage could pay off for five Georgians who are among 16 men and women invited by USTA Player Development to participate in the Kia Motors Australian Open Wildcard Playoff, which for the third consecutive year will be held at Atlanta’s Racquet Club of the South, Dec. 16-18.
The winners will receive main draw singles wild cards into the draws at the 2012 Australian Open through a reciprocal agreement with Tennis Australia.
The women’s field includes 2009 U.S Open quarterfinalist Melanie Oudin (Marietta, Ga.), who grew up training at the RC of the South and helped lead the U.S. to consecutive Fed Cup finals in 2009-10. In addition to Oudin, local favorites will include Grace Min (Duluth, Ga.), who captured the 2011 U.S. Open girls’ singles title; and Taylor Townsend (Stockbridge, Ga.), the youngest player in either field at age 15, who reached the girls’ doubles final at the U.S. Open and the semifinals at a USTA Pro Circuit $50,000 event in Carson, Calif., in April.
Rounding out the women’s field are Coco Vandeweghe (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.), who competed in the main draw of all four Grand Slam events in 2011 and won this event in 2009 to earn a wildcard into the 2010 Australian Open; Madison Keys (Boca Raton, Fla.), who won a similar playoff to earn a wildcard into the 2011 U.S. Open, where she subsequently became the youngest player to win a main draw match since 2005; Jamie Hampton (Auburn, Ala.), who won four USTA Pro Circuit titles in 2010 and qualified for the 2011 Australian Open; 2008 USTA Girls’ 18s National champion Gail Brodsky (Brooklyn, N.Y.); and Alison Riske (McMurray, Pa.), who reached the semifinals at the Wimbledon tune-up in Birmingham in 2010 to earn a wildcard into the Wimbledon main draw.
The men’s field includes local favorite Robby Ginepri (Kennesaw, Ga.), who reached the 2005 U.S. Open semifinals and is the only active American male aside from Andy Roddick to appear in a Grand Slam semifinal; and 2010 U.S. Open boys’ champion Jack Sock (Lincoln, Neb.), who also won consecutive titles at the USTA Boys’ 18s National Championships in 2010-11.
The men’s field also features local product Bobby Reynolds (Acworth, Ga.), the former Vanderbilt standout who won a similar event to earn a wildcard into the 2011 U.S. Open; and Denis Kudla (Arlington, Va.), who reached the quarterfinals at the ATP World Tour event in Newport, R.I., in July. Rounding out the field are four current and former collegiate standouts including: 2011 NCAA men’s champion Steve Johnson (Orange, Calif.), who has also helped lead the USC Trojans to three consecutive NCAA team titles; Daniel Kosakowski (Huntington Park, Calif.) who turned professional after his freshman year at UCLA and won his first tour-level match at the U.S. Open Series event in L.A.; Rhyne Williams (Knoxville, Tenn.), the 2011 NCAA singles runner-up for the University of Tennessee, who turned pro after winning his second professional title in June at the USTA Pro Circuit Futures in Innisbrook, Fla.; and Jesse Levine (Boca Raton, Fla.), a former All-American at the University of Florida who reached the third round at Wimbledon in 2009 and has won four titles in six finals on the ITF Pro Circuit since September.
Seeding for the event will be based on the ATP and WTA rankings. In addition to the tournament, the event will also feature an exhibition match on Dec. 16, that will be played in a World TeamTennis format, with U.S. Davis Cup captain Jim Courier and USTA Player Development GM Patrick McEnroe serving as the team captains. For additional information, visit www.australinwildcard.com.
