Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios has been confirmed as a starter for the upcoming Australian Open after securing his entry via a protected ranking. Kyrgios will be one of six men and six women using protected rankings at Melbourne Park as the 29-yer-old prepares to make his return from almost two years on the sidelines.

The 2022 Wimbledon runner-up will make his long-awaited comeback at the new World Tennis League exhibition event in Abu Dhabi in two weeks before then heading to the Brisbane International. His sights will then be set on Melbourne Park, where he is one of 10 Aussie men who have automatically qualified for the main draw.

Only one Aussie woman has secured entry through the main draw at Melbourne Park – world no. 96 Olivia Gadecki. However, Daria Saville (106), Ajla Tomljanovic (108), Kimberly Birrell (114) and Maya Joint (118) are all likely to be given wildcards without having to go through qualifying in January.

Tournament boss Craig Tiley promised Kyrgios a wildcard if he wanted to compete in October, however, since he can use his protected ranking that wildcard can now be used elsewhere. The cut-off for main draw qualification was at world no. 98 for both the men and women, with eight wildcard spots in each draw and a further 16 to be filled by qualifiers.

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Bernard Tomic unlikely to receive key wildcard

Meanwhile, as Bernard Tomic sets his sights on his first Australian Open berth since 2021, the Aussie has been dealt a fresh blow, with the Brisbane International set to snub him for a wildcard. The 32-year-old has enjoyed somewhat of a late-career resurgence and is on the Gold Coast training in preparation for next month’s Australian Open qualifiers.

His world ranking of 214 is enough to secure him a berth in the qualifying event for the first grand slam tournament of 2025, where he is incredibly unlikely to secure direct entry through a wildcard. However, his ranking isn’t enough to guarantee the former World No.17 a place in the 24-player qualifying event for the Brisbane International, which will headlined by 24-time grand slam singles champion Novak Djokovic.

And tournament director Cam Pearson said it would be “pretty tough” to give Tomic even a wildcard for the Brisbane International qualifiers. “We’ll look at all options for wildcards, but we’ve got a lot of Australian players who are ranked just outside of the cut (55) for the main draw, so it makes it hard (to give Tomic a wildcard), given he’s ranked in the 200s,” Pearson said.

There are 11 Australian players outside the world’s top 55 who have a better ranking than Tomic. “We haven’t made decisions on the wildcards, but I suspect for the main draw it would be pretty tough (to give one to Tomic),” Pearson said.

with NCA newswire