Aus Open wildcard frontrunners emerge

Resurgent Queenslander Priscilla Hon is firming to win the final Australian Open women’s singles wildcard after her main rivals fell by the wayside on Wednesday.

Hon may not have started the week at the front of the queue but her brilliant victory over dual Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in Adelaide on Monday dramatically changed her fortunes.

That win doubled as the 23-year-old’s first top-20 scalp and set the standard for the other leading contenders – Ellen Perez, Lizette Cabrera and Seone Mendez.

“(The wildcard) did pop up in my mind a couple times in my match,” Hon said after outlasting Kvitova in three sets.

“I was like, ‘No, don’t even go there right now, because that’s not going to go well’. Obviously, a couple of us are still fighting for it.

“Whatever happens, happens. I’m in ‘qualies’ (qualifying) with my ranking, so there’s always going to be good matches. There are going to be positives in both situations.”

Selectors handed out pre-Christmas wildcards to Storm Sanders, Daria Saville, Maddison Inglis and Sam Stosur but challenged the others to further their case this week.

Perez, who qualified for a grand slam for the first time at Wimbledon last year, made a sluggish start in Melbourne on Wednesday and eventually lost 6-0 6-3 to 66th-ranked Nuria Parrizas Diaz.

Cabrera made a bright start before fading in a 5-7 6-2 6-2 result against world No.69 Anastasia Potapova, while Dutch qualifier Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove ousted Mendez 6-3 6-4.

None of the men’s wildcards have been allocated to Australians yet, but Thanasi Kokkinakis made a statement at the Adelaide International on Tuesday night with a straight-sets demolition of John Millman.

Kokkinakis is yet to hear either way but would prefer to have his ranking back in double-digits to avoid the wildcard uncertainty.

“I hope I put myself in the top 100 and I don’t have to rely on anyone. That’s the ultimate goal,” he said.

“I’d like to think a win like (the one over Millman) again puts me in a good spot if I haven’t already been in a good spot.”

Alex Bolt, Aleks Vukic, Max Purcell and Chris O’Connell – who lost in three sets to fellow Australian Jordan Thompson on Wednesday – join Kokkinakis in a five-way battle for four wildcards.