ZHUHAI, December 9, 2019 (Australian Open Press Release)

Korea’s Na-Lae Han and Japan’s Tatsuma Ito won the eighth annual Australian Open Asia-Pacific Wildcard Play-off in Zhuhai on Sunday and will travel to Melbourne to compete in the men’s and women’s main draw next month.

World No.182 Han defeated second seed Ayano Shimizu in straight sets, 6-2 6-2, to claim the biggest win of her career.

The 27-year-old didn’t lose a set all week and will make her Grand Slam debut in Australia.

“It’s the first time I have played Ayano. I’m really happy to win the championship and to capture the wildcard,” Han said after her match.

When asked which player she would like to face in Melbourne, Han said, “I hope it can be Serena Williams. But If I want to win, maybe someone ranked a bit lower.”

On the men’s side, Ito defeated top seed and world No.128 Jason Jung, 7-5 6-4, in the final.

Thirty-one-year-old Ito is thrilled to be heading back to Melbourne in January.

“l have played at the Australian Open six or seven times. I feel at home. A lot of people come and support me, l really enjoy the feeling and I’ll try to do my best next year,” Ito said.

“The Australian Open provides very good conditions for the players. I like Melbourne very much.”

Australian Open Asia-Pacific Wildcard Play-off Tournament Director Isabelle Gemmel was pleased to deliver another successful week of competitive tennis in Zhuhai.

“We were delighted to again host the Asia-Pacific Wildcard Play-off in Zhuhai for the fourth year,” Gemmel said.

“Na-Lae Han was undefeated all week and Tatsuma Ito overcame a couple of tough matches to win the all-important main draw wildcard.

“With two new countries, Korea and Japan, winning for the first time in singles, it underlines how the Asia-Pacific wildcard playoff has established itself as a key tournament in its own right and how valued it is in the Asia-Pacific region.

“On Saturday we saw Ji Sung Nam and Minkyu Song defeat the defending champions in the men’s doubles and Ya-Hsuan Lee and Fang-Hsien Wu win the women’s doubles wildcard.

“China’s Xiaofei Wang won the boys’ wildcard and Fangran Tian took out the girls’ wildcard.”

Australian Open 2020 Asia-Pacific Wildcard Play-off winners:

MEN’S SINGLES: Tatsuma Ito (JPN)

WOMEN’S SINGLES: Na-Lae Han (KOR)

MEN’S DOUBLES: Ji Sung Nam and Minkyu Song (KOR)

WOMEN’S DOUBLES: Ya-Hsuan Lee and Fang-Hsien Wu (TPE)

BOYS’ SINGLES: Xiaofei Wang (CHN)

GIRLS’ SINGLES: Fangran Tian (CHN)

See the completed tournament draws here: http://ausopenwildcard.com