Greek Australia Jaimee Fourlis, ranked 160, will compete at Australian Open 2023 after the Aussie duo were awarded main draw wildcards. She starts her campaign against world number 74, Linda Fruhvirtova, this afternoon and is Australia highest ranked women's player.
Fourlis reached four ITF singles finals and won three, the biggest of those titles, at the 60K event in Brasov, Romania.
That performance in Brasov was the start of a 12-match, 24-set winning streak, boosting her ranking to almost 100 places in three weeks.
It was a heartening breakthrough into the world’s top 150, given the 23-year-old from Melbourne underwent shoulder surgery which kept her off the court for nearly 18 months, from early 2020 to mid-2021.
Among Fourlis’ 50 match victories in 2022 were three rounds of qualifying wins to reach the main draw at Wimbledon. She won her first-round Australian Open main-draw match as a 17-year-old on debut in 2017.
“I’m so thankful to Tennis Australia for the opportunity to play in the main draw of my home Slam,” Fourlis said.
