By Richard Pagliaro Monday, December 22, 2025
Image source: Hameltion/Wikimedia Commons.
Four Australian players have received wild cards to the 2026 Australian Open.
Australian Rinky Hijikata, Priscilla Hon, Talia Gibson and Taylah Preston Received a wild card into the main draw at Melbourne Park in January.
This brings the number of Australian players participating in the singles main draw to 16, including 8 in the men’s competition and 8 in the women’s competition.
She earned a wild card following the best season of her career, during which she reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time at the U.S. Open, and shortly thereafter entered the top 100 for the first time.
The 27-year-old Queenslander also qualified for Wimbledon, advanced to the third round of the WTA 1000 Championship in Beijing and won two ITF W75 titles in Brisbane and Romania.
“I am very grateful to Tennis Australia for giving me this wild card,” said Hon. She reached a career-high world ranking of No. 94 in mid-October before falling to her current ranking of No. 119.
“I’ve done everything in my power to avoid needing a body like this, but I’m so grateful for their continued support. I’m proud to represent Australia and can’t wait to see how far I can go!”
Hijikata and Dutch partner David Pell reach the Wimbledon doubles final. This is his second Grand Slam doubles final after he and fellow Australian Jason Kubler won the 2023 AO title.
In singles, Hijikata won the Playford Challenge, rising to No. 114 in the world rankings, and also won rounds at Wimbledon, Indian Wells and Miami.
Hijikata’s best Grand Slam singles result was the fourth round of the 2023 US Open, and he will participate in the AO main draw for the fourth consecutive time.
“I am very grateful to have the opportunity to participate in the AO main draw again,” Hijikata said.
“There’s nothing better than playing in a home Grand Slam and I have some of my best memories in Melbourne. I can’t wait for the excitement in January.”
The red-hot Preston have won 31 of their last 37 games in 2025.
The 20-year-old, a former top-10 junior player, will compete in the main draw of a Grand Slam for the third time after taking part in the 2024 Australian Open and US Open.
Meanwhile, Gibson hit a new high at the end of the season when she was named to Australia’s Billie Jean King Cup squad for the Australian play-offs in Hobart for the first time.
The following week, she traveled to Sydney where she won the Australian Pro Tour Championship, one of three ITF titles she would win in 2025 at the W50 level or above.
French players also received wild cards for the main draw Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaona and Killian Jacquetannounced by the French Tennis Federation.
Rakotomanga Rajaonah, 20, who recently won her first WTA title in Sao Paulo, starts 2025 close to the top 100 but still outside the top 350. Jacquet, meanwhile, reached his first ATP-level quarter-final in Metz last month and reached a career-high ranking of No. 137 shortly after.
More wildcards will be announced ahead of the main draw of the 2026 Australian Open, which starts on January 18.
