Matthew Ebden and Jarmila Gajdosova get wild cards for Brisbane International – Tennis News
Australian players, Matthew Ebden and Jarmila Gajdosova, have been awarded wild card entries into the main draw of the Australian Open warm up event, Brisbane International.
The hard court event will be held from December 30 to January 6.
Ebden has been rewarded for performing quite impressively during 2012. The Australian number four had the best season of his career so far, attaining his best ranking of 61 in October.
The 25-year-old clinched first Grand Slam match win of his career, when he defeated Brazil’s Joao Souza in the first round of the Australian Open. The South Africa born player made his biggest breakthrough at the BNP Paribas Open, reaching the fourth round
of that ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event. During that process, Ebden also claimed his first victory over a top 10 player, beating the then eighth ranked player, Mardy Fish.
Ebden also won a match at the final Grand Slam of the season, the US Open. Making his Davis Cup debut this year, the Australian player won both matches he played for his country. The right-hander ended the season with a 17-23 match win/loss record.
He said, “The year 2012 was good in a few ways. I won some of my first grand slam matches and played in the main draws of all the slams. I also won some of my first Davis Cup matches and debuted ... and won by far the most tour matches through the whole
season that I have ever done.”
On the other hand, Gajdosova had an injury plagued season in 2012. The 25-year-old, who attained her career high ranking of 25 in 2011, went down 150 places to fall to 184th place at the end of 2012.
However, the Australian national has regained her fitness now and is hoping to make a solid comeback in the next season. The Slovakia born player thanked Tennis Australia and Brisbane International for providing her this opportunity.
Gajdosova stated, “It means a lot. I can't thank enough the Brisbane International and Tennis Australia for giving me this opportunity to start my comeback and new year playing main draw at such a great event.”
The Australian player also said that she has been working hard on her fitness during the off season as well. She is hoping that she would give good performance at her first event of 2013 and prove that organisers made the right decision to award her a wild
card.
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