Casey Dellacqua has been rewarded for some excellent form with a wildcard into next month's Australian Open.
Dellacqua, who reached a career-high ranking of 39 in 2008 before being struck down by serious shoulder and foot injuries, won 30 successive matches and six tournaments recently on the Pro Tour in regional Australia.
She lost her opening match in last week's Open wildcard play-off to rising teenage star Ashleigh Barty.
But Tennis Australia (TA) officials felt she had done enough in recent months to get direct entry into the main draw for the first grand slam event of the year, along with compatriot James Duckworth.
"After missing most of 2010 with a foot injury I have spent this year building on my confidence and match practice," said Dellacqua, who enjoyed her best-ever run at a grand slam at the 2008 Australian Open when she advanced to the last 16.
"I now finally feel like I am playing some good tennis and with six Pro Tour event wins under my belt I have the confidence I needed going into the summer.
"I'm really happy with where I am at.
"I'm hitting the ball well, serving great and doing all the things I should be doing.
"I feel good and I am looking forward to some tough competition in January."
The 26-year-old has also been handed wildcards for the Open lead-up events in Brisbane and Hobart.
"It's nice to know my summer is set and hopefully I will get a few more wins and gain even more confidence coming into the Australian Open," said Dellacqua, who is now ranked 133 in the world.
"My goal is to get back into the top 100 next year and then once I'm back inside there, I will reassess and this will just help me speed up that process."
Duckworth, 19, earned his wildcard three days after being beaten in the final of the play-off mini-tournament at Melbourne Park by Marinko Matosevic.
"It's something I've been working towards for a number of years now, and it's really a dream come true to play the Australian Open with my friends and family there," said Duckworth, who has improved his world ranking by 400 places to No.260.
TA will hand out more Open wildcards in the coming weeks.
AAP
Tags: tennis, sport, australia First posted December 14, 2011 11:10:30
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