Three former champions Rafael Nadal, Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber are all set to make a return to the tour as Australian Open on Thursday revealed the entry list for the 2024 edition of the tournament. The troika of Grand Slam winners will be joined by another former winner at the Melbourne Park with Caroline Wozniacki awarded one of the first wild cards for the 2024 Australian Open. However, former Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios and 2021 US Open winner Emma Raducanu are among the notable absentees from the list.
Kyrgios, former world No. 13, had missed the Australian Open last January owing to a knee surgery. He was slated to return to action in Wimbledon after having played a couple of matches, but was forced to withdraw after tearing a ligament in his wrist. The Aussie has since been out of the tour. Australian Open boss Craig Tiley however remains hopeful that Kyrgios will be present in Melbourne for the Slam in in “some form” and added that he could be granted a wildcard.
Raducanu, who has been out of action since April owing to multiple surgeries, missed out on the automatic entry list after having a protected ranking of 103. The 21-year-old was also not named among the initial batch of wild cards handed out by Australian Open on Thursday, which implies that she will have to go through the qualifiers.
Wozniacki, the 2018 Australian Open women’s champion, was a however the first wild cards for the 2024 Australian Open, along with six Aussie players. The 33-year-old had come out of retirement after three years earlier in August as she played in Montreal and Cincinnati before making a run to the fourth round of the US Open.
Nadal and Osaka are expected to make a blockbuster Grand Slam return after making an appearance in Brisbane international. The Spaniard has been out of action since January this year after incurring a hip injury in his second-round loss and has a protected ranking of nine. Osaka, on the other hand, who gave birth to daughter Shai in July, has been out of WTA action since September 2022. The two-time champion at the Melbourne Park has a special ranking – used by the WTA for players returning from pregnancy leave – of 46.
The Australian Open 2024 will begin from January 14 onwards where Novak Djokovic will be defending his men’s title while Aryna Sabalenka the women’s.
