Wickmayer Qualifies; Simon out of Australian Open

Yanina Wickmayer scored a 60 60 victory over Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain in the last round of qualifying for the main draw of the 2010 Australian Open ladies singles tournament. Meanwhile, the first major of the year suffered its first seeded casualty when world #15 Gilles Simon of France was forced to withdraw with a right knee injury a few days before the tournament starts.

Wickmayer and her fans must have breathed a huge sigh of relief. What remains to be seen would be her first round opponent. Seeded players such as compatriot Kim Clijsters, Australia's #1 Samantha Stosur, and 2008 Australian Open finalist Ana Ivanovic could very well be her first round opponent. Wickmayer had to go through the qualifying rounds after the tournament organizers refused to grant her a wild card into the main draw. She will now enter the tournament with the best record amongst the women tennis players at eight wins, zero losses for the year. She won the Auckland tournament last week.

Simon of France, a quarter-finalist at Melbourne last year was due to play Frederico Gil of Portugal for his first round match. He is in the same quadrant as Roger Federer and would have faced the world #1 if both reached the fourth round. Simon reached a career-high ranking of #6 in January 2009.