Melbourne VIC, Australia, 9 December 2016 | tennis.com.au

Sixteen Australian men and women will gather at Melbourne Park next week to battle it out for a coveted wildcard at the annual Australian Open 2017 Play-off from 12-18 December 2016.

Andrew Whittington (Vic) will be the top seed in the men’s field and will be joined by fellow Victorians Sam Groth, Marinko Matosevic and Marc Polmans.

Townsville’s John-Patrick Smith, Luke Saville (SA), Blake Mott (NSW), 2016 Australian Tennis Awards Male Junior Athlete of the Year Alex De Minaur (NSW) and Omar Jasika (Vic) will also take part.

Arina Rodionova (Vic) will lead the women’s field and faces stiff competition from the likes of Queensland’s Naiktha Bains (Qld), Priscilla Hon (Qld), Sara Tomic (Qld), Australian Open 2016 Play-off winner Maddison Inglis and US Open wildcard winner Ellen Perez (NSW).

Attention also remains firmly on the 18/u Australian Championships this weekend, with the girls’ winner set to receive direct entry into the Australian Open and the girls’ runner-up to earn a berth into the women’s play-off, while the boys’ winner will receive entry into the men’s play-off.

For the first time at December Showdown eight women’s doubles pairings will play off for the chance to earn direct entry into the first Grand Slam of the year at the Australian Open 2017 Women’s Doubles Play-off.

Tournament Director Francis Soyer is looking forward to a competitive Australian Open play-off.

“The Australian Open play-off continues to draw some of Australia’s best male and female players to compete for the ultimate prize – direct entry into their home Grand Slam,” Soyer said.

“The 2017 field is strong and we wish the players the best of luck on their pursuit for tennis glory.

“We encourage the public to come down to Melbourne Park to support the players or catch all the action live on tennis.com.au.”

The Australian Open 2017 Play-off is a knock-out tournament with the men’s singles best-of-five sets and the women’s singles best-of-three sets.

Play will start with the men’s first round on Monday 12 December followed by the women’s first round on Tuesday 13 December.

Australian Open 2017 Play-off field

[World ranking in brackets]

MEN

[170] Andrew Whittington (Vic)
[181] Sam Groth (Vic)
[225] Marinko Matosevic (Vic)
[226] Marc Polmans (Vic)
[231] John-Patrick Smith (Qld)
[240] Christopher O’Connell (NSW)
[266] Luke Saville (SA)
[289] Blake Mott (NSW)
[326] Max Purcell (NSW)
[351] Alex De Minaur (NSW)
[367] Omar Jasika (Vic)
[392] Dayne Kelly (Vic)
[396] Maverick Banes (Qld)
[462] Gavin Van Peperzeel (Qld)
[870] Harry Bourchier (Tas)
18/u Boys’ Australian Championships winner

WOMEN

[191] Arina Rodionova (Vic)
[388] Destanee Aiava (Vic)
[409] Alison Bai (ACT)
[426] Jaimee Fourlis (Vic)
[453] Naiktha Bains (Qld)
[455] Tammi Patterson (Vic)
[482] Olivia Tjandramulia (Qld)
[488] Sara Tomic (Qld)
[517] Priscilla Hon (Qld)
[546] Maddison Inglis (WA)
[598] Abbie Myers (NSW)
[629] Ellen Perez (NSW)
[742] Angelique Svinos (NSW)
[1098] Kaylah McPhee (Qld)
[1118] Michaela Haet (NSW)
Belinda Woolcock (Vic)