As usual, I'll be taking several days off for the Christmas holiday, before returning to follow the USTA Winter Nationals, which begin Saturday in Orlando (16s and 18s) and San Antonio (12s and 14s). But I wanted to post the Australian Open entry lists and a couple of other items before that brief vacation.
Last week the qualifying fields for the Australian Open were
announced, two weeks after the main draw fields were
released. Below is the list of Americans who will be in Melbourne next month, in the order of their selection.
Main Draw:
MEN:
Taylor Fritz
Tommy Paul
Frances Tiafoe
Ben Shelton
Sebastian Korda
Reilly Opelka
Brandon Nakashima
Alex Michelsen
Marcos Giron
Jenson Brooksby(PR)
Nishesh Basavareddy (USTA reciprocal wild card)
WOMEN:
Coco Gauff
Jessica Pegula
Emma Navarro
Danielle Collins
Madison Keys
Amanda Anisimova
Peyton Stearns
Katie Volynets
Ashlyn Krueger
McCartney Kessler
Taylor Townsend
Caty McNally(PR)
Bernarda Pera
Sloane Stephens
Caroline Dolehide
Sofia Kenin
Hailey Baptiste
Ann Li
Iva Jovic (USTA reciprocal wild card)
2024 ITF World Junior champion Emerson Jones has been announced as a main draw wild card, as has Maya Joint.
Qualifying:
WOMEN:
Alycia Parks
Robin Montgomery
Claire Liu
Varvara Lepchenko
Louisa Chirico
Usue Arconada
Emina Bektas
Hanna Chang
Sachia Vickery
Initial cutoff 221
MEN:
Christopher Eubanks
Nicolas Moreno De Alboran
Aleksandar Kovacevic
Michael Mmoh
Learner Tien
Mackenzie McDonald
Tristan Boyer
Mitchell Krueger
Zachary Svajda
Brandon Holt
Ethan Quinn
Patrick Kypson
Emilio Nava
Eliot Spizzirri
Initial cutoff 232
Wild cards were awarded to juniors Hayden Jones and Cruz Hewitt, Lleyton Hewitt's 16-year-old son, as well as Pepperdine sophomore Edward Winter.
In an Australian Open tradition that I wish all other slams would emulate, 2024 Australian Open junior champions Renata Jamrichova(SVK) and Rei Sakamoto(JPN) received qualifying wild cards. Wimbledon usually does this, but Roland Garros and the US Open do not.
Parsa Nemati announced on X Saturday that 2022 Wimbledon girls champion Liv Hovde will be joining Duke for the upcoming spring team season. Rumors had been circulating for several months that after two plus years as a pro the 19-year-old was interested in college tennis, but having signed with an agent after her Wimbledon title made eligibility a major question, which apparently was answered to Duke's satisfaction. Texas A&M, Oklahoma State and Duke on her short list, according to what I heard at Orange Bowl.
Last month 17-year-old Anna Frey, the social media influencer and
blue chip prospect, was featured in
this Forbes article about her NIL deals with Head and FILA. Frey, who has 2 million TikTok and 750,000 Instagram followers, is a high school junior.
“I’m so excited to partner with HEAD,” said Anna Frey. “I love their commitment to the sport and to helping athletes reach their full potential. I’m excited to share this journey with you all and continue to encourage young people to pick up a racquet and get out on the court.”
Frey is also the newest brand ambassador for FILA, representing their innovative CASA FILA collection. She will showcase the line both on and off the court, wearing it during her matches and in her daily life to highlight its versatility as performance sportswear and lifestyle fashion.
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