Indian No.1 singles player Somdev Devvarman has received a direct entry in the first round of the singles main draw of the Australian Open as he has been given a wildcard by Tennis Australia (TA).
It will be Somdev’s first appearance in the main draw after failing twice in the qualifying rounds. The Austraian Open is the first Grand Slam of the year and starts Jan 17.
Last year, Somdev came close but lost in the third and the final round of the qualifiers while in 2009 he lost in the second round.
Kei-chen Chang from Chinese Taipei is the other Asian to get the wildcard. Somdev is currently ranked 108, just outside the Australian Open cut-off of 105.
In 2010, he won a Challenger event in Turkey and also reached the semifinals in Aptos and qualified for both the Cincinnati Masters and the French Open.