Alicia Molik and Robert Smeets won their finals at the
Australian Open wildcard playoffs on Tuesday to book their places
in the first grand slam of 2007.
Molik beat Jessica Moore 6-4 6-4 in the women's final and
21-year-old Smeets defeated Joe Sirianni 6-1 7-5 3-6 6-3 in the
men's decider to secure a place in the main draw.
The Australian Open offers wildcard spots for eight men and
eight women for the January 15-28 tournament at Melbourne Park.
Just six of the total of 16 wildcards are available after Casey
Dellacqua and Alun Jones were also given places as the best
performed Australian players on the local circuit and six cards
were handed over in a reciprocal exchanges with the French Open, US
Open and winners of the Asian tennis championships.
(China Daily via Reuters December 20, 2006)