Melbourne, Australia, 5 January 2023 | tennis.com.au

John Millman and Jaimee Fourlis will compete at Australian Open 2023 after the Aussie duo were awarded main-draw wildcards.

At different stages of their career, the two local players bolster Australia’s representation in the Australian Open 2023 main draw to 14 competitors across the men’s and women’s singles events.

Fan favourite Millman, a tour veteran at age 33, will compete in his sixth consecutive AO main draw, and ninth overall, when the tournament kicks off on 16 January.

His best results at Melbourne Park are trips to the third round in 2016 and 2020; the latter run ended in five thrilling sets against Roger Federer under lights at Rod Laver Arena.

Less than 18 months before that, Millman had beaten Federer en route to the 2018 US Open quarterfinals – his best-ever result at a Grand Slam tournament.

The Queenslander has slipped to 147th in the rankings, but his relentlessly heavy, physical playing style and supreme fitness have carried him as high as world No.33.

He won his first career ATP title in Astana in 2020, reached another two finals in the two years before that, and owns nine career wins over top-20 players.

“I’m extremely grateful to be given the opportunity to play at the Australian Open,” Millman said. “It’s a special place for me to return to, in front of my friends, family and the powerful Aussie crowd. I couldn’t be more excited.”

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Fourlis, meanwhile, returns to the main draw of the Australian Open for the first time in five years.

Her reappearance follows a resurgent season during which she rose from outside the top 300 to a career-high ranking of world No.147.

Her year started off brilliantly with a run to the AO 2022 mixed doubles final alongside Jason Kubler, something she said set the tone for the season that unfolded.

She reached four ITF singles finals and won three, the biggest of those titles coming at the 60K event in Brasov, Romania.

That performance in Brasov was the start of a 12-match, 24-set winning streak, boosting her ranking almost 100 places in just three weeks.

It was a heartening breakthrough into the world’s top 150, given the 23-year-old from Melbourne underwent shoulder surgery which kept her off court for nearly 18 months, from early 2020 to mid 2021.

Among Fourlis’ 50 match victories in 2022 were three rounds of qualifying wins to reach the main draw at Wimbledon. She won her first-round Australian Open main-draw match as a 17-year-old on debut in 2017.

“I’m so thankful to Tennis Australia for the opportunity to play in the main draw of my home Slam,” Fourlis said.

Australian players Jason Kubler, Alexei Popyrin, Rinky Hijikata, Olivia Gadecki, Storm Hunter and Talia Gibson were among the first wildcard recipients announced last month.

> READ MORE: Australian players receive AO 2023 wildcards

The final Australian Open 2023 wildcards go to players from the Asia Pacific, Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima and Wu Yibing of China, both of whom will make their Australian Open main-draw debuts at Melbourne Park.

Australian Open 2023 runs from 16-29 January at Melbourne Park, with the qualifying competition beginning on 9 January.

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