Tim Smyczek is headed back to the main draw of the Australian Open, where three years ago he earned international acclaim for his sportsmanship in a match with Rafael Nadal, after clinching the men's Australian Open WildCard Challenge presented by the USTA on Thursday.
Smyczek defeated compatriot Tennys Sandgren, 6-4 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the $75,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Champaign, Ill., guaranteeing he'll outpace all other Americans in the Challenge, with 109 points, to earn a main draw wildcard entry into Melbourne.
The USTA and Tennis Australia have a reciprocal agreement in which wildcards into the US Open and Australian Open are exchanged. USTA Player Development awards the wildcards to the American man and woman whose ranking won't qualify them for direct entry into the main draw, based on their performances throughout a series of pro events over the last several weeks.
Smyczek, ranked No. 152, earned 80 points for winning the singles title at the $75,000 USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Charlottesville, Va., and 29 points for reaching the semifinals this week. The Challenge counts only each players' best two results over a three-week period.
Smyczek, a 29-year old Milwaukee native, has reached the second round of the Australian Open three times, including in 2015, when, late in the fifth set of an eventual second-round loss to Nadal, Smyczek allowed Nadal to take a second first serve after a fan interruption caused the Spaniard to fault. The gesture drew praise from Nadal following the match and earned international media coverage.
Twenty-one-year old Taylor Townsend clinched the women's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge by winning the singles title at the $80,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Waco, Texas, on Sunday. Townsend’s victory – her third USTA Pro Circuit singles title in the last month – also elevated her ranking to No. 97, which is more than likely to guarantee her direct entry into the main draw in Melbourne when the entry lists are announced on December 4.
Should that happen, the Challenge’s wildcard entry would go to second-place finisher Kristie Ahn, who earned 116 points compared to Townsend’s 136. Ahn, the 25-year old Stanford product who earned 115 points by winning the singles title at the $80,000 event in Tyler, Texas, two weeks ago, is ranked No. 112.