Chinese tennis player gets wildcard for Australian Open
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Cheng Kei-Chang from Chinese Taipei and Somdev Devvarman from India will not have to go through the qualifiers to play in the singles main draw of the Australian Open, as Tennis Australia (TA) on Thursday awarded them a wildcard entry into the first Grand Slam of the season.
According to the statement released by Tennis Australia on Thursday, the duo was handed wildcards "as part of the Australian Open's profile as the Grand Slam of Asia Pacific."
At just 19-year-old, Cheng is ranked No.117, and this will be her second Australian Open main draw appearance.
In 2010, Cheng reached a career high ranking of No. 82 following a second round appearance at Wimbledon, and also reached the second round at the U.S. Open before falling to eventual finalist and current World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki.
Meanwhile, Devvarman is currently ranked 108, just outside the Australian Open cut-off of 105, and this will be his first main draw appearance at the Australian Open.
His best result in 2010 was winning a Challenger event in Turkey in September. He also reached the semifinals in Aptos of California, U.S. in July and qualified for both the Cincinnati Masters and the French Open.
The organizer have already awarded wildcards to the U.S. pair of Ryan Harrison and Lauren Davies, and the French duo of Benoit Paire and Virginie Razzano.
Australians Marinko Matosevic, Olivia Rogowska, Peter Luczak, Jelena Dokic, Matt Ebden and Alicia Molik have also received wildcards, and the organizer said two more would later be awarded in both the men's and women's draw.
