Simona Halep, a former world number one from Romania, has been granted a wild card into the 2025 Australian Open Qualifying competition, which will take place from January 6 to 9. Photo: EPA-EFE/PETER FOLEY.
Simona Halep will make her major debut next month in Melbourne.
Former world number one Halep has accepted a wildcard into the 2025 Australian Open qualification at Melbourne Park, which runs from January 6 to January 9.
Halep will be making her first Grand Slam debut since losing in the first round of the US Open to Ukrainian qualifier Daria Snigur in August 2022.
Halep, a finalist at the 2018 Australian Open, expressed gratitude for the wild card and has been working hard for the 2025 season.
“The prospect of returning to Australia after three years is exciting, and I am grateful to the event for the opportunity. “I’ve been working hard to prepare for the 2025 season,” Halep added. “The Australian Open has provided me with some of the best moments in my career, so I can’t wait to be back in Melbourne and playing in front of the Aussie fans.”
The 33-year-old Romanian advanced to the round of 16 in her final Australian Open debut in 2022. Halep has reached the AO fourth round or better in her last five Melbourne Park appearances, including the 2018 final and 2020 semifinal.
Cruz Hewitt, the son of former world number one Lleyton Hewitt, was one of eight Australian men who received wild cards for the 2025 Australian Open Men’s Qualifying.
The top seed in Australian Open women’s qualifying is American Alycia Parks, who moved up to No. 82 after defeating Belinda Bencic in the final of the WTA 125 in Angers, France, last week.
Parks, Viktorija Golubic, and Nuria Parrizas Diaz are the three top-100 rated women who will compete in AO qualifying.
The top-seeded Halep was six points away from her maiden Grand Slam title, leading 4-3 in the final set of the 2018 Australian Open final, when Caroline Wozniacki made a career-defining comeback.
Wozniacki, ranked second, stormed through the final three games, defeating Halep 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4, in a tense Australian Open final to win her first major and third Grand Slam title.
On a sweltering Saturday night in Melbourne, Wozniacki defeated Grand Slam ghosts and a valiant Halep in a thrilling two-hour, 50-minute match.
In a final featuring current and past world number one players, the two pushed each other all over the court in a dizzying display of intensity.
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