2014 US Open Boys’ champion Omar Jasika has become the latest player to receive a wildcard for next month’s Australian Open.
The wildcard takes the 18-year-old into his first Grand Slam main draw as a pro player. Jasika is currently ranked 311th in the world, over 50 places below his August career-best ranking of 256th. This year he has played 41 main draw matches on the tour, winning 26 of them. In May he won his first senior title at a Futures tournament in Changwon, South Korea. The following month he won his second Futures title in Canada.
“I can’t wait to play the Australian Open,” he said.
“It will be my first time in main draw singles at a slam and to be able to play in my home town at this level is unbelievable.”
Jasika recently played in the Australian Wildcard playoff tournament where he suffered a first round loss to eighth seed Matthew Barton. The tournament was won by James Duckworth after his opponent, Ben Mitchell, withdrew from the final due to the birth of his child.
The 18-year-old is the sixth player to be awarded a wildcard for the men’s tournament. The Australian Tennis federation is yet to name the final two players to receive a wildcard. The full list of wildcards is the following:-
Yoshihito Nishioka JPA
Quentin Halys FRA
Noah Rubin USA
James Duckworth AUS
Lleyton Hewitt AUS
Omar Jasika AUS
TBA
TBA
