Sydney: The Australian Open will hold a regional wildcard playoff for entry to the 2013 version of the year's first tennis grand slam in Nanjing in China in October, organisers announced on Monday.
The male and female winners of the playoff, which will take place at China's National Tennis Academy from October 15-21, will gain entry to the main draw of the Melbourne Park tournament, which brands itself the "Grand Slam of the Asia-Pacific".
The Asia-Pacific wildcards were previously decided by nomination, a spokeswoman for Tennis Australia said, and are part of the 16 up for grabs for the Australian Open, eight each for entry to the men's and women's draws.
Two of the eight are allocated in a reciprocal arrangement with the French and U.S. Open, one goes to the winner of a playoff restricted to Australian players, while the other four are awarded at the discretion of organisers....
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11:59 AM, Sep 17, 2012
