A wildcard is a player whose world ranking is not high enough to qualify automatically for the Australian Open, however they are accepted into the main draw at the discretion of a selection panel. There are eight men’s and women’s singles wildcards awarded each year.
The Australian Open Wildcard Play-off in December provides Australia’s best players the opportunity to win a wildcard into the Australian Open. The Australian Open Asia-Pacific Wildcard Play-off provides the best players from the Asia-Pacific region with the opportunity to win a wildcard into the Australian Open. Tennis Australia also has a reciprocal arrangement with the French Tennis Federation and USTA, offering exchanges in French Open and US Open wildcards.