Jordan Thompson (NSW) has become the latest Australian addition to the star-studded Brisbane International 2017 presented by Suncorp after being awarded a wildcard into the main draw.
The 22-year-old from Sydney was handed the golden opportunity on the back of a season which saw him almost halve his ATP ranking, from 154th to 89th.
“I’m delighted to get the wildcard for the Brisbane International, so I’d like to thank Tennis Australia for giving me the opportunity and hopefully I can make the most of it,” said Thompson.
“It looks like they have an amazing line-up this year, the only way to get better is by playing against great players so I’m looking forward to testing myself against some of the world’s best.”
Thompson won four Challenger tournaments in 2016, taking out titles in Vietnam, China, France and Victoria.
He also represented Australia at the Olympics Games in Rio and played the four Grand Slams, making it to the second round of the French Open.
“My results this year have been pretty consistent, I’ve improved massively since the start of the year and hopefully that improvement continues into the start of the new season, starting with Brisbane,” he said.
“I’ve been training really hard, and hitting it nicely in practice. My ATP ranking is the highest it’s ever been, so my confidence is pretty high and I feel I can make some great strides next year.”
Tournament director Geoff Quinlan believes Thompson made an extremely strong case to receive a wildcard, after he only narrowly missed out on a direct acceptance.
“It’s a well-deserved opportunity for Jordan, he’s a tough competitor who will be well-suited to these conditions because he’s so fit and strong. He played a marathon against Ivo Karlovic at the French Open and was unlucky to lose 12-10 in the fifth, and I’m sure he’ll give a strong account of himself here in Brisbane on home soil,” said Quinlan.
Thompson joins fellow Australian players Bernard Tomic (QLD) and John Millman (QLD) in the main draw, with other hopefuls such as James Duckworth (NSW) and Sam Groth (VIC) going through qualifying.
“Jordan was a top 20 player in the world as a junior and he’s won an AO wildcard play-off, so it’ll be great to see him here playing in the main draw. He won some Challenger events towards the end of the year and is currently inside the top 80 in the world, so is very deserving of the opportunity,” said Quinlan.
Five of the world’s top ten men are playing Brisbane, with a line-up that includes Spanish legend Rafael Nadal (ESP), Stan Wawrinka (SUI), Milos Raonic (CAN) Kei Nishikori (JPN) and Dominic Thiem (AUT).