Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin and Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum have won a wildcard for next month’s Australian Open after winning the Asia-Pacific playoff tournament in Zhuhai, China.
Top seed Istomin battled his way into the final of the men’s draw after outlasting Indian world No.281 Prajnesh Gunneswaran 6-2, 1-6, 11-9. A similar battle for the Uzbek emerged in the decisive match of the tournament. Facing South Korea’s Duckhee Lee for a place in the first grand slam of 2017, Istomin battled to a 6-2, 5-7, 7-5, win.
The former top 40 player is now set to play in the main draw of a grand slam for the 36th consecutive time. At the Australian Open he made his major debut in 2006, losing to Roger Federer in the first round. Since then, his best performance at the Melbourne tournament was reaching the third round in 2010 and 2014.
This season Istomin has achieved a win-loss of 26-30 on the ATP Tour. Failing to win a title in 2016, his best results were reaching the final at two Challenger events in his native country. At the Wimbledon championships, he defeated Kevin Anderson and Nicolas Almagro to reach the third round.
Joining Istomin in Australia will be Kumkhum, who triumphed in the women’s tournament. Seeded third in the draw, the 23-year-old benefited from the early withdrawal of top seed Su-Wei Hsieh in her section. She secured her wildcard after defeating world No.131 Kai-Chen Chang 6-4, 6-3, in the final.
It was at the Australian Open where Kumkhum grabbed one of the biggest wins of her career after stunning Petra Kvitova in the first round of the 2014 tournament.
“For some reason, things seem to go my way in the Australian Open. I have good memories because I played my first main draw in a Major there,” She told The National.
“Today Chen made so many errors. To be frank, I came here not expecting too much as I just wanted to give it a try. Even if I didn’t win a wildcard, I still can play the qualifying round in Melbourne.”
A former top 90 player, the world No.176 has failed to break through on the WTA Tour this season. Her best performance was settling for runner-up at an ITF $50,000 event in Wuhan during the summer.
“I started the year well, but failed to defend so many points in the second half of the year. So I hope I will have a good draw in the Australian Open so I can win a few rounds,” Said Kumkhum.
The Australian Open will start on January 16th 2017.
