De Minaur, Whittington get wild cards for Australian Open
Jan 2, 2017
Australian Open organizers have given 17-year-old Alex De Minaur and Andrew Whittington wild-card entries to the season's first major
MELBOURNE, Australia — Australian Open organizers have given 17-year-old Alex De Minaur and Andrew Whittington wild-card entries to the season's first grand slam tournament.
De Minaur, a Wimbledon junior finalist last year, beat top-seeded Mikhail Kukushkin in the qualifying tournament for the Brisbane International, where he is set to make his ATP main draw debut this week. Whittington, 23, achieved a career-high ranking of No. 170 last November after winning six ITF titles and reaching semifinals at two ATP Challenger events.
Other wild cards already granted for the Australian Open men's main draw include Denis Istomin, the Asia-Pacific Wildcard playoff winner from Uzbekistan, and Quentin Halys of France and Michael Mmoh of the United States, who were given reciprocal wildcards for the French Open and the U.S. Open.
