Wild card terrified by Jannik Sinner: "I don’t want to get devastated"

First career Australian Open for French tennis player Kyrian Jacquet, world number 138. The transalpine athlete, who has reached the main draw at the 2024 Us Open and 2025 Roland Garros in his career, was given a wild card by the French Federation and is making his first ever appearance at the Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne. In an interview with Tennis Actu’s microphones, he confessed all his excitement: “I am incredibly proud to have the wild card and incredibly grateful to be able to take advantage of this opportunity”.

Martino Davidi

Kyrian Jacquet, however, does not dream of facing top tennis players, but of advancing as far as possible in the tournament. And in this regard, he quotes Jannik Sinner himself: “Everyone dreams of playing on the Center Court…but I am now at a point in my career where I think I would rather get through three rounds than play against Sinner on the Center Court and still have a’high probability of being devastated… So, I would rather play against someone who has a lower ranking, to have a better chance of moving on”.

There will also be Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz on the board of the’AO 1 Point Slam, the “appetizer tournament” of the Australian Open characterized by matches decided by playing a single point, next Jan. 14. The South Tyrolean also took up the challenge, joining his friend-rival Murciano, who had already confirmed his presence for the particular tournament in recent weeks. Along with Jannik Sinner, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff, respectively number 2 and number 3 in the WTA rankings, are also registered for the tournament.

Also, among the men, the presence of Nick Kyrgios, one of the first to accept the challenge proposed by the organizers of the first Slam of the season, is expected. The format of the event will feature matches decided by the “winner-takes-all” formula: a draw will determine who will be entrusted with the serve and the’only point played will be the decisive one for winning the mini-match. In addition to professional tennis players, the scoreboard will include amateur players selected on the basis of specific eliminations organized by Tennis Australia and wild cards awaiting confirmation.

“Australian Open director Craig Tiley emphasized the’exceptional nature of the initiative and the enthusiasm he said it is generating. “The 1 Point Slam tournament is like nothing we have ever seen before– he said. Having stars such as Iga Swiatek, Jannik Sinner, and Coco Gauff as recent confirmations, along with Australians who will qualify through the state championships, perfectly represents the spirit of this event: bringing people together through tennis in an exciting and inclusive way”.