Caty McNally earns 2023 Australian Open wild card

A late-season surge has given American Caty McNally a spot in the main draw of 2023's first Grand Slam tournament. The 20-year-old Ohio native earned the most ranking points over the last five weeks to clinch the top spot in the USTA's women's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge.

A player's best three results over the last five weeks counted towards the overall standings, and McNally earned a total of 189 points as a result of a strong string of results at indoor hard-court tournaments in Europe. She qualified and reached the quarterfinals at the WTA 500 in Ostrava, Czech Republic (125 points); reached the semifinals at an ITF World Tennis Tour W60-level event in Trnava, Slovakia (29 points); and qualified and reached the quarterfinals at a WTA 125-level event in Rouen, France (35 points). 

McNally will be competing in the Australian Open main draw for the second time in her career, having debuted in 2020. That year, she qualified and reached the second round; she lost in qualifying in each of her two attempts to return to the main draw in Melbourne since then.  

The final women's standings can be found below, with each player's current WTA ranking in parenthesis. Should McNally earn direct entry into the Australian Open when the entry lists are made on Dec. 5, the wild card will go to the next eligible American in the standings who doesn't earn direct entry. 

1. Caty McNally (No. 111) -- 189

2. Madison Brengle (No. 52) -- 161

3. Taylor Townsend (No. 131) -- 130

4. Alycia Parks (No. 117) -- 126

5. Claire Liu (No. 61) -- 111