Jack Sock Leads Men’s Australian Open Wild Card Challenge

Whitney Osuigwe Ties Varvara Lepchenko atop Women’s Standings

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., November 5, 2018 – Jack Sock’s quarterfinal appearance at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Paris last week put him in good position to receive entry into the main draw of the Australian Open, as he leads the Australian Open Wild Card Challenge after Week 1. Sock, now ranked No. 105, earned 180 points in Paris to take a substantial, though not insurmountable, lead in the Men’s Challenge.

The men’s wild card will go to the American with the highest cumulative total of ATP singles ranking points earned from their best two results at any hard-court tournaments at the ATP Challenger level or above over its three-week window. With two $150,000 Challengers on the calendar in Week 3, enough points remain on the board over the next two weeks for another American outside the Australian Open direct-entry field to clinch the wild card by winning singles titles at one of those $150,000 events and another of the Challenger-level tournaments included in the Challenge.

One of those players is 21-year old Tommy Paul, who is in second place with 80 points after Week 1. The former French Open boys’ champion, now ranked No. 222, won his first ATP Challenger title at the $75,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Charlottesville, Va.

Former junior No. 1 Whitney Osuigwe tied Varvara Lepchenko atop the women’s standings after Week 2. The 16-year old former French Open girls’ champion won her first pro singles title at the $80,000 USTA Pro Circuit women’s event in Tyler, Texas, where she beat former world No. 7 Belinda Bencic in the semifinals. Osuigwe, who jumped up to a career-high No. 226 world ranking, made her Grand Slam main-draw debut at the US Open this past summer.

The women’s wild card will be awarded to the American with the highest cumulative total of WTA singles ranking points earned from their best three results during those four weeks, at three $80,000 USTA Pro Circuit women’s events (main draw points only) and one WTA $125,000 event (main draw and qualifying points).

Click here to view the full women’s standings after Week 1 of 3 for the men and Week 2 of 4 for the women.

Only Americans who do not earn direct entry into the Australian Open are eligible. In the event of a tie, the player with the best ATP or best WTA singles ranking on Nov. 19 will be awarded the wild card.

Should the man or women who clinches the wild card receive direct entry into the Australian Open, the wild card goes to the second-place finisher in the standings.

All USTA Pro Circuit tournaments will be streamed live on www.procircuit.usta.com. The Challenge will consist of the following events:

Men’s Events

• Week of November 5: ATP €106,000 Challenger (Bratislava, Slovakia); ATP €85,000 Challenger (Mouilleron-le-Captif, France); USTA Pro Circuit $75,000 Challenger (Knoxville, Tenn.)
• Week of November 12: ATP $150,000 Challengers (Houston; Bangalore, India); USTA Pro Circuit $75,000 Challenger (Champaign, Ill.); ATP $50,000 Challenger (Kobe, Japan)

Remaining Women’s Events

• Week of November 5: USTA Pro Circuit $80,000 Event (Las Vegas)
• Week of November 12: WTA $125,000 Series Event (Houston, Texas)

The 2019 Australian Open will be held January 14-27.