Kokkinakis, Hijikata, Factors mixed Brisbane Worldwide wildcards | 20 December, 2024 | All Information | Information and Options | Information and Occasions

Wildcard recipients Thanasi Kokkinakis, Rinky Hijikata and Maya Joint elevated Australia’s presence within the Brisbane Worldwide subject to 9.

Brisbane, Australia, 20 December 2024 | tennis.com.au

Thanasi Kokkinakis, Rinky Hijikata and Maya Joint boosted the native staff in the primary event to 9 on the 2025 Brisbane Worldwide after securing wild playing cards on Friday.

In his first official occasion since serving to information Australia to the Davis Cup semi-finals in November – together with a tiebreaker towards the USA’ Ben Shelton – Kokkinakis will take his place on the courtroom on the Queensland Tennis Middle for the fifth time.

Earlier final month, the world No. 77 denied Hijikata a shot on the Sydney Challenger title, his first at that degree on Australian soil.

> READ MORE: Walton, Birrell get Brisbane Worldwide playing cards

It was a reverse consequence when the 2 squared off within the opening spherical on the Pat Rafter Enviornment at this 12 months’s Brisbane Worldwide in January.

World No.73 Hijikata went on to achieve the final eight in that race, which is a part of 5 tour-level quarterfinals this season, together with the ATP 500 grass-court occasion at Queen’s Membership.

“Clearly I’ve good reminiscences of Brisbane earlier this 12 months, I made the quarterfinals right here, so it was a great way to begin the 12 months and I really feel prefer it put me in an excellent place for the season,” Hijikata stated.

“Hopefully I can repeat that or go additional this 12 months so, yeah, I am trying ahead to it and it is all the time good to play at residence…

“There are all the time lots of people who will attend the Brisbane Worldwide, so I am positive it is going to be the identical this 12 months. You need to check your self towards the perfect gamers on the planet, that is why you decide up a racquet and play.”

Rinky Hijikata and Maya Joint at Pat Rafter Enviornment. Picture: Tennis Queensland

Australia’s fourth-ranked, world No.116 Joint will make her debut in Brisbane following a season wherein the 18-year-old reached the second spherical on the US Open and was named joint-winner of the Junior Ladies’s Athlete of the 12 months. on the Australian Tennis Awards this month.

“It is going to be the primary time I play it and I feel it is vitally vital to begin the 12 months robust. “I am unable to wait to play in entrance of the house crowd,” stated Joint.

“I want to play for Sabalenka. I want to examine my degree, simply see how I match. I feel it will be actually cool to play somebody of that caliber.”

Kokkinakis and Hijikata be part of Adam Walton as males’s wild card recipients together with Nick Kyrios, Alexei Popyrin and Jordan Thompson within the occasion, which incorporates 24-year-old Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, defending champion Grigor Dimitrov ( No.10), Holger Rune (No.13), Frances Tiafoe (No.18) and Matteo Berrettini (No.34).

Joint joins fellow wildcard recipients Kimberly Birrell and Ajla Tomljanovic within the WTA 500 ladies’s occasion, which options 4 high 10 gamers together with world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula (No.7), Emma Navarro (No.8) and Daria Kasatkina (No.9).

The Brisbane Worldwide runs from 29 December to five January on the Queensland Tennis Centre.

Qualifying motion begins on Friday twenty seventh December, with the primary draw beginning on Sunday twenty ninth December.

Brisbane Worldwide tickets are bought by means of Ticketmaster.

Discover your solution to play: Go to play.tennis.com.au to get out on the courtroom and have enjoyable!