Wawrinka Gets Australian Open Wild Card, Kyrgios to Play Doubles

The suspense is over. 2014 champion received a main draw wild card into this year’s Australian Open, the tournament’s decision ending a week of speculation about the fate of 40-year-old Wawrinka.

The tournament played the waiting game with its final three wild cards, and ended up extending the other two to Jordan Thompson and Christopher O’Connell.

Nick Kyrgios was also in the running but the Aussie has elected to focus his efforts on doubles.

The Aussie announced his intention in an Instagram story, saying: “After some good conversations with [Tennis Australia], I’ve made the call to focus on doubles for this year’s [Australian Open],” he said. “I’m fit and back on court, but five-setters are a different beast and I’m not quite ready to go the distance yet.”

Wawrinka will join fellow icon Gael Monfils in making this year’s Happy Slam his last. Monfils, 39 and ranked 69, qualified via his ranking.

Main draw play begins Sunday 18 January at Melbourne Park, while the draw will be held on Thursday January 15.