New year, new faces on the Grand Slam scene. Here’s a quick peak at the 12 players that will make their Grand Slam main draw debut at this year’s Australian Open.
WTA:
Elisabetta Cocciaretto (ITA): The 18-year-old Italian qualifier has never won a WTA main draw match. After qualifying she’ll start off her Grand Slam career with a match with Angelique Kerber in round one. Cocciaretto has five ITF titles to her name since last July.
Leylah Fernandez (CAN): The 17-year-old Canadian was the Roland Garros Girls Singles champion from 2019. She’ll open with American Lauren Davis.
Han Na-Lae (KOR): 27-year-old Han won the Asia-Pacific Wildcard Play-Off. Her last tour-level win came in 2017 at Seoul against Kristyna Pliskova. She’ll open with Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia in round one.
Ann Li (USA): A former junior Grand Slam finalist, Li saved two match points in the final round of qualifying against Ana Bogdan or Romania. She’ll open with Aussie wild card Lizette Cabrera.
Nina Stojanovic (SRB): The 23-year-old Serb is ranked 85 and already owns eight Top 100 wins. She’ll face Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in round one.
Greet Minnen (BEL): Now 119 in the world, Greet Minnen was well outside of the Top 300 this time last year. She’ll face Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus in round one.
Martina Trevisan (ITA): After defeating Eugenie Bouchard in the last round of qualies the 27-year-old Italian will open her Grand Slam career with a first-round encounter with Sofia Kenin.
ATP:
Mario Vilella Martinez (ESP): The World No.196 knocked off Nicolas Mahut in the first round of qualifying. He has never earned an ATP victory and will seek his first against Karen Khachanov in the opening round at Melbourne.
Tallon Griekspoor (NED): Many will know Griekspoor for his upset of Stan Wawrinka in 2018 at Rotterdam. He also nearly defeated Andy Murray at Davis Cup last year. After defeating last year’s junior champ Lorenzo Musetti in the final round of qualies Griekspoor will face Taylor Fritz in round one.
Alejandro Tabilo (CHI): 22-year-old Tabilo went the qualifying route in Melbourne. He has drawn fellow qualifier Daniel Elahi Galan, also a Grand Slam debutante, in the first round.
Daniel Elahi Galan (COL): The 23-year-old World No.186 qualified at Houston last year and reached the semis. He went 4-4 on the ATP Tour last season.
Andrew Harris (AUS): Harris earned a Tennis Australian wild card after reaching three challenger finals in 2019. He’ll face Matteo Berrettini in the opening round.
Lorenzo Guistino (ITA): The 28-year-old gained entry into the main draw when Radu Albot withdrew due to injury. He will face Milos Raonic in his first match.