2019 Australian Open Wild Card Challenge set

The Australian Open Wild Card Challenge will heat up later this month, as a main-draw spot in the Melbourne event is up for grabs for one American man and woman. The race for a wild card Down Under gets underway on Oct. 22 for the women and Oct. 29 for the men, and will conclude the week of Nov. 12 for both. 

The USTA and Tennis Australia have a reciprocal agreement in which main-draw wild cards for the 2019 US Open and 2019 Australian Open are exchanged.

The men’s wild card will go to the American with the highest cumulative total of ATP singles ranking points earned from their best two results during the three-week men’s window, including results from any professional hard-court event at the ATP Challenger level and above around the world. 

The women’s wild card will be awarded to the American with the highest cumulative total of WTA singles ranking points earned from their best three results during those four weeks, at three $80,000 USTA Pro Circuit women’s events in Macon, Ga.; Tyler, Texas; and Las Vegas (main-draw points only), as well as one WTA $125,000 event in Houston (main-draw and qualifying points).

All USTA Pro Circuit tournaments will be streamed live on USTA.com. 

Only Americans who do not earn direct entry into the Australian Open are eligible. In the event of a tie, the player with the best ATP or best WTA singles ranking on Nov. 19 will be awarded the wild card. 

For a full list of events included in the challenge and updated standings during the contest, visit our event page.

The USTA also utilizes this wild card challenge format for the US Open and the French Open. The US Open winners this year were Bradley Klahn and Asia Muhammad. The French Open winners were Taylor Townsend, who reached the second round at Roland Garros, and Noah Rubin. Townsend also was the winner of the 2018 Australian Open Wild Card Challenge, alongside Tim Smyczek, who advanced to the second round in Melbourne in 2018.

The 2019 Australian Open will be held Jan. 14-27.