2016 Australian Open – Main Draw Wildcard Entries

The 2016 Australian Open Wildcard Playoffs and Entries was a group of events and internal selections to choose the eight men and eight women singles wildcard entries for the 2016 Australian Open, as well as seven male and seven female doubles teams plus eight mixed doubles teams.

One wildcard each was given to the winners of the Australian Open Wildcard Playoff, a tournament between Australian players who did not receive direct entry into the draw. This took place from 14 to 20 December 2015.

In an agreement with the United States Tennis Association and the French Tennis Federation, Tennis Australia gives one man and one woman from the United States and France each a wildcard into the Australian Open. The French players were chosen by internal selection, while USTA awarded the entry to the player with the most points over three pre-selected events in USA over October and November 2015.^[1]

Since the Australian Open is promoted as the "Grand Slam of Asia/Pacific", one male and one female player from this geographical area were awarded a wildcard. This was decided through the Asia-Pacific Australian Open Wildcard Playoff. At the same event, one male and one female doubles team won wildcards, and one wildcard each was contested in boys and girls singles. This took pace from 2 to 6 December 2015.^[2]

Remaining wildcards were awarded by internal Australian selection.

For the first time, a new initiative was put in place for rewarding women's wildcards. A wildcard race was put in place by Tennis Australia to offer the highest Australian points earner from the 2015 Canberra Tennis International and 2015 Bendigo Women's International a main draw wildcard. The singles wildcard was won by Tammi Patterson and the doubles wildcard was won by Jessica Moore and Storm Sanders. Also for the first time, the winner of the girls' 18 and under national championships was rewarded a main draw wildcard.

Wildcard entries

Men's Singles

Country	Name	Method of Qualification
JPN	Yoshihito Nishioka	Asia-Pacific Wildcard Playoff
FRA	Quentin Halys	French internal selection
USA	Noah Rubin	American Wildcard Challenge
AUS	James Duckworth	Australian Wildcard Playoff
AUS	Lleyton Hewitt	Australian internal selection
AUS	Omar Jasika[3]	Australian internal selection
AUS	Matthew Ebden	Australian internal selection
AUS	Jordan Thompson	Australian internal selection

Women's Singles

Country	Name	Method of Qualification
CHN	Han Xinyun	Asia-Pacific Wildcard Playoff
FRA	Océane Dodin	French internal selection
USA	Samantha Crawford	American Wildcard Challenge
AUS	Tammi Patterson	Australian Wildcard Challenge
AUS	Maddison Inglis	Australian Wildcard Playoff
AUS	Priscilla Hon	Australian 18/u Champion
AUS	Kimberly Birrell	Australian internal selection
AUS	Storm Sanders	Australian internal selection

Men's Doubles

Country	Name	Method of Qualification
TPE  TPE	Hsieh Cheng-peng Yang Tsung-hua	Asia-Pacific Wildcard Playoff
AUS  AUS	Alex Bolt Andrew Whittington	Australian internal selection
AUS  AUS	James Duckworth John Millman	Australian internal selection
AUS  AUS	Sam Groth Lleyton Hewitt	Australian internal selection
AUS  AUS	Omar Jasika Nick Kyrgios	Australian internal selection
USA  USA	Austin Krajicek Donald Young	Australian internal selection
AUS  AUS	Luke Saville John-Patrick Smith	Australian internal selection

Women's Doubles

Country	Name	Method of Qualification
JPN  JPN	Shuko Aoyama Makoto Ninomiya	Asia-Pacific Wildcard Playoff
AUS  AUS	Jessica Moore Storm Sanders	Australian Wildcard Challenge
AUS  AUS	Alison Bai Naiktha Bains	Australian internal selection
AUS  AUS	Kimberly Birrell Priscilla Hon	Australian internal selection
SVK  AUS	Daniela Hantuchová Jarmila Wolfe	Australian internal selection
AUS  AUS	Tammi Patterson Olivia Rogowska	Australian internal selection
AUS  AUS	Ellen Perez Belinda Woolcock	Australian internal selection

Mixed Doubles

Country	Name	Method of Qualification
AUS  AUS	Kimberly Birrell John Millman	Australian internal selection
AUS  AUS	Daria Gavrilova Luke Saville	Australian internal selection
AUS  AUS	Maddison Inglis Benjamin Mitchell	Australian internal selection
AUS  AUS	Jessica Moore Marc Polmans	Australian internal selection
AUS  AUS	Anastasia Rodionova Chris Guccione	Australian internal selection
AUS  AUS	Arina Rodionova Matt Reid	Australian internal selection
AUS  AUS	Ajla Tomljanović Nick Kyrgios	Australian internal selection
CHN  KOR	Zheng Saisai Chung Hyeon	Australian internal selection

Asia-Pacific Wildcard Playoff

The Asia-Pacific Wildcard Playoff events took place in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China from Monday, November 30 to Sunday, December 6, 2015. A total of 26 male and 30 female players from Asia/Pacific zone took part in singles events (including qualifying competitions), with Yoshihito Nishioka from Japan^[4] and Han Xinyun from China gaining the Australian Open entry. Both doubles events consisted of 18 male and 19 female teams, with Hsieh Cheng-peng & Yang Tsung-hua and Shuko Aoyama & Makoto Ninomiya winning the wild cards. Junior playoff events were also held, and Chinese players Mu Tao and Wang Xiyu won the wild card entries into the Boys' and Girls' main events, respectively.^[5]

Men's Singles

First Round							Quarterfinals							Semifinals							Final
1	Yoshihito Nishioka	6	6
Q	Wu Hao	1	4				1	Y Nishioka	6	6
WC	Sun Fajing	6	7				WC	F Sun	2	4
5	Wu Di	3	5											1	Y Nishioka	6	6
4	Bai Yan	6	77											6	Z Li	4	2
WC	Gong Xiao	3	64				4	Y Bai
Q	Qi Xi	3	1				6	Z Li	w/o
6	Li Zhe	6	6																		1	Y Nishioka	3	6	6
8	Christopher Rungkat	6	6																		7	J Jung	6	2	3
Q	Zhu Zhicheng	2	4				8	C Rungkat	4	64
WC	Toshihide Matsui						3	T-h Yang	6	77
3	Yang Tsung-hua	w/o												3	T-h Yang	2	2
7	Jason Jung	6	6											7	J Jung	6	6
WC	Ruben Gonzales	4	2				7	J Jung	2	7	6
Q	Zhou Shenghao	2	1				2	Z Zhang	6	5	3
2	Zhang Ze	6	6

Women's Singles

First Round							Quarterfinals							Semifinals							Final
1	Wang Yafan	6	6
Q	Akari Inoue	2	0				1	Y Wang	6	6
WC	Shiho Akita	5	5				7	S Aoyama	4	4
7	Shuko Aoyama	7	7											1	Y Wang	6	4	6
3	Lee Ya-hsuan	6	6											5	J Lu	2	6	1
WC	Sun Xuliu	4	4				3	Y-h Lee	64	1
Q	Gai Ao	1	6	1			5	J Lu	77	6
5	Lu Jingjing	6	4	6																	1	Y Wang	1	0
6	Han Na-lae	5	0																		2	X Han	6	6
Q	Tian Ran	7	6				Q	R Tian	1	4
LL	Ye Qiuyu	1	3				4/WC	V Wongteanchai	6	6
4/WC	Varatchaya Wongteanchai	6	6											4/WC	V Wongteanchai	2	2
8	You Xiaodi	7	3	0r										2	X Han	6	6
Q	Xun Fangying	5	6	3			Q	F Xun	2	2
	Gao Xinyu	5	0				2	X Han	6	6
2	Han Xinyun	7	6

Men's Doubles

Quarterfinals							Semifinals							Final
1	Gong Maoxin   Peng Hsien-yin	65	6	[7]
	Toshihide Matsui   Christopher Rungkat	77	2	[10]				T Matsui   C Rungkat	6	5	[4]
3	Hsieh Cheng-peng   Yang Tsung-hua	6	65	[10]			3	C-p Hsieh   T-h Yang	2	7	[10]
	Ruben Gonzales   Jason Jung	4	77	[8]										3	C-p Hsieh   T-h Yang	6	78
	Wu Di   Yi Chu-huan	5	4											2	Y Bai   Z Li	4	66
4	Lee Hsin-han   Zhang Ze	7	6				4	H-h Lee   Z Zhang	4	63
WC	Gong Pengxiang   Qi Xi	0	4				2	Y Bai   Z Li	6	77
2	Bai Yan   Li Zhe	6	6

Women's Doubles

Quarterfinals							Semifinals							Final
1	Shuko Aoyama   Makoto Ninomiya	6	6
	Shiho Akita   Akari Inoue	1	3				1	S Aoyama   M Ninomiya	65	6	[10]
3	Han Na-lae   Lee Ya-hsuan	6	6				3	N-l Han   Y-h Lee	77	2	[4]
	Gao Xinyu   Xun Fangying	2	0											1	S Aoyama   M Ninomiya	6	78
WC	Chen Pei-hsuan   Huang Hsiang-wen	0	3											2	V Wongteanchai   Z Yang	0	66
4	Han Xinyun   Lu Jingjing	6	6				4	X Han   J Lu	3	6	[5]
	Chen Jiahui   Ye Qiuyu	4	4				2	V Wongteanchai   Z Yang	6	4	[10]
2	Varatchaya Wongteanchai   Yang Zhaoxuan	6	6

Australian Wildcard Playoff

The December Showdown was held between 5 and 20 December. This Showdown included the Wildcard Playoff as well as 18/u, 16/u, 14/u and 12/u National Championships.^[6] The men's wildcard playoff was won by top seed James Duckworth who defeated Benjamin Mitchell in the final by a walkover. Mitchell was forced to pull out of the final to be in Brisbane with his partner whom was due to give birth. The women's wildcard playoff was won by unseeded teen Maddison Inglis, who defeated newlywed Arina Rodionova in the final.

Men's Singles

First Round									Quarterfinals									Semifinals									Final
1	James Duckworth	6	65	6	6
	Harry Bourchier	3	77	2	3				1	J Duckworth	6	6	6
	Marc Polmans	3	2	6	4					M Polmans	4	4	3
5	Alex Bolt	6	6	4	1r													1	J Duckworth	4	6	79	710
3	Luke Saville	2	6	6	6													7	M Matosevic	6	3	67	68
	Jacob Grills	6	3	2	3				3	L Saville	3	2	2
	Maverick Banes	6	1	63	6	3			7	M Matosevic	6	6	6
7	Marinko Matosevic	3	6	77	4	6																					1	J Duckworth	w/o
8	Matthew Barton	6	6	6																							4	B Mitchell
	Omar Jasika	4	3	3					8	M Barton	65	77	2	0
	Oliver Anderson	1	2	4					4	B Mitchell	77	65	6	6
4	Benjamin Mitchell	6	6	6														4	B Mitchell	2	77	77	6
6	Gavin Van Peperzeel	3	63	6	4														B Mousley	6	63	62	4
	Bradley Mousley	6	77	4	6					B Mousley	4	7	4	77	6
	Matt Reid	3	2	1					2	J Thompson	6	5	6	65	4
2	Jordan Thompson	6	6	6

Women's Singles

First Round							Quarterfinals							Semifinals							Final
1	Olivia Rogowska	3	2
	Kaylah McPhee	6	6					K McPhee	3	5
	Maddison Inglis	6	3	6				M Inglis	6	7
8	Zoe Hives	4	6	0											M Inglis	6	2	6
4	Alison Bai	6	3	0											N Bains	2	6	2
	Belinda Woolcock	2	6	6				B Woolcock	4	65
	Naiktha Bains	6	5	6				N Bains	6	77
9	Sally Peers	3	7	1																		M Inglis	6	6
6	Storm Sanders	6	6																		2	A Rodionova	4	2
Alt	Lizette Cabrera	3	2				6	S Sanders	4	6	8
	Abbie Myers	6	6					A Myers	6	2	6
3	Jessica Moore	3	4											6	S Sanders	6	4	5
7	Olivia Tjandramulia	4	77	4										2	A Rodionova	1	6	7
	Destanee Aiava	6	65	6				D Aiava	2	4
	Angelique Svinos	1	3				2	A Rodionova	6	6
2	Arina Rodionova	6	6

NB: Kimberly Birrell was the number 5 seed, but withdrew prior to the commencement of play.

Girls' Singles

For the first time in Australian Open history, the winner of the girls' 18/U Championships will receive a main draw wildcard into the 2016 Australian Open. The wildcard was won by top seed Priscilla Hon who defeated wildcard playoff winner Maddison Inglis in the final.

Quarterfinals							Semifinals							Final
1	Priscilla Hon	6	6
WC	Petra Hule	2	2				1	Priscilla Hon	3	77	712
5	Naiktha Bains	65	3				4	Olivia Tjandramulia	6	62	610
4	Olivia Tjandramulia	77	6											1	Priscilla Hon	6	77
3	Sara Tomic	2	1											7	Maddison Inglis	2	65
6	Destanee Aiava	6	6				6	Destanee Aiava	5	2
WC	Kaylah McPhee	7	64	1			7	Maddison Inglis	7	6
7	Maddison Inglis	5	77	6

NB: Kimberly Birrell was the number 2 seed.

Mixed Doubles

The 'Win a Wildcard' competition held by Tennis Australia allowed any person over the age of 16 entry into the competition. State championships were held across the period of November and December and the finals were held at Melbourne Park on 20 December. The entire competition was played using the Fast4 Tennis method. The competition was won by Bradley Mousley and Jessica Moore who had secured a wildcard into the 2016 Australian Open mixed doubles event. However, Mousley withdrew from the event, and Moore partnered Marc Polmans.

Semifinals							Final
2	Aaron Addison   Alana Parnaby	1	3
4	James Frawley   Alison Bai	4	4				4	James Frawley   Alison Bai	1	0
3	Scott Puodziunas   Ashling Sumner	3	3				1	Bradley Mousley   Jessica Moore	4	4
1	Bradley Mousley   Jessica Moore	4	4

External links

• Asia Pacific Men's Singles draw
• Asia Pacific Women's Singles draw
• Asia Pacific Men's Doubles draw
• Asia Pacific Women's Doubles draw
• 18/u Girls' Singles National Championships draw
• Men's Singles wildcard playoff draw
• Women's Singles wildcard playoff draw
• Mixed Doubles wildcard playoff draw

References