For tennis fans and players alike, this weekend provides a trip Down Under without the 18-hour plane ride. The Racquet Club of the South in Norcross will host the Australian Open Wild Card Playoffs for the third consecutive year, the only such qualifying event in the nation.
The tournament, which begins Friday, will offer the Australian national anthem, visiting kangaroos and high stakes.
Eight players each in the men’s and women’s draws will compete for a respective berth in the Australian Open, held in Melbourne Jan. 16-29. It’s a chance to qualify for the year’s first Grand Slam event from the comforts of home.
That’s how it’ll work for Acworth's Bobby Reynolds, 29, the former Vanderbilt standout who is ranked 127th in the world. Only the top 100 players in the world automatically qualify for the Australian, so he’ll have to play his way in -- win three matches in as many days -- but that’s nothing new to Reynolds.
He qualified for the U.S. Open in August in a similar wild-card event, and he is the top seed heading into Friday’s quarterfinal round.
“It’s tough,” Reynolds said. “All these guys out here are great, like it was a couple months ago [in Washington]. You try to minimize as many sets as you can play in the first two rounds. ... Everybody is good, and whoever comes out of this is going to be ready for Australia.”
The event typically features some of the best young talent in tennis, but locals Reynolds, 29, and Robby Ginepri, 29, of Marietta, give the men’s field more of a veteran feel. Both are working their way back up the rankings after coming off injuries, and add local flair. Reynolds and Ginepri could meet in the semifinals on Saturday.
A familiar name competing on the women’s side is Melanie Oudin, 20, from Marietta. She is trying to gain some Grand Slam ground again after her run to the quarterfinals at the 2009 U.S. Open; she began that year by qualifying for the Australian Open and rose to 31st last year in the world rankings. Currently 166th in the world, Oudin lost in the first round of each of the four Grand Slam tournaments last year.
Irina Falconi, a former two-time Georgia Tech All-American, will play in an exhibition match on Friday. She has automatically qualified for the Australian Open by virtue of her 84th world ranking, the fifth highest among American women. She played in this wild-card event last year, lost and had to travel to Australia to make it in the qualifier there.
“Any time you’re playing in your hometown and having people supporting you and cheering you on, it’s great,” she said.
Tickets are $25. Matches will be played on the indoor courts. For more information, go to www.australianwildcard.com.
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