Mmoh, Day awarded Australian Open wildcards
After strong results on the USTA Pro Circuit, American teenagers Michael Mmoh and Kayla Day have been awarded main-draw wildcards for Australian Open 2017.
Melbourne VIC, Australia, 22 November 2016 | USTA
American teenagers Michael Mmoh and Katla Day have earned berths into the main draw of Australian Open 2017.
The pair earned main-draw wildcards at Melbourne Park after clinching the USTA Pro Circuit Australian Open Wild Card Challenge by earning the most ranking points across a group of three Challenger/ITF hardcourt events in the United States in recent weeks.
This will mark 18-year-old Mmoh’s first appearance in a Grand Slam main draw outside the United States.
Mmoh, who also earned a wildcard into the 2016 US Open, won his first Challenger title at the $50,000 Knoxville Challenger in Tennessee last week and then reached the quarterfinals of the $50,000 Challenger in Champaign, Illinois.
Jared Donaldson, the only player who could surpass Mmoh in the points standings, lost in the semifinals in Champaign and could not gain enough points to earn the wildcard.
Mmoh is ranked a career-high No.204 in the world after peaking at No.2 in the 2015 junior rankings; he has enjoyed an impressive 2016 which has featured a run to the final at the Tiburon Challenger in California as well as qualifying for the ATP event in Memphis.
Day, 17, earned the women’s Australian Open wildcard earlier this month.
Like Mmoh, she earned a wildcard into the 2016 US Open by winning the USTA Girls’ 18s National Championships.
At Flushing Meadows she won her first-round match before going on to win the US Open girls’ singles and ascending to world No.1 in the junior rankings.
Day currently owns a WTA ranking of No.197.