Four-time Grand Slam singles champion’s daughter has been awarded wildcard for the Australian Open next year

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Two American players have already been confirmed to play in the main draw of the Australian Open after receiving wildcards.

America had success in Melbourne earlier this year, as Madison Keys beat Aryna Sabalenka to win the Australian Open as her first Grand Slam title.

Players including Coco Gauff are already making preparations for the next Australian Open, with less than two months until the first major of 2026.

Gauff will be one of many American players competing in Melbourne next year, including the daughter of a four-time Grand Slam singles champion.

Daughter of Hana Mandlikova receives Australian Open wildcard

Hana Mandlikova won four Grand Slam singles titles in her career, as well as a major doubles title alongside Martina Navratilova.

Two of Mandlikova’s four Grand Slam singles titles came in Australia, the nation she represented after switching from Czechoslovakia.

The tennis gene has clearly continued in the family, but her daughter Elizabeth Mandlik actually represents the USA after being born in Florida.

Mandlik is 24 years old and has a career-high ranking of world number 97, but after spending three months out in 2024 due to a wrist injury, she has been unable to reach her previous heights.

Despite now being ranked outside the top 180, recent results for Mandlik, including winning the ITF 100k event in Edmond, Oklahoma, have enabled her to win the USTA’s Australian Open wildcard challenge.

Mandlik is now confirmed to return to the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since the 2023 French Open, having only won one match at a major before.

As Mandlik looks to follow in the footsteps of her mother, the men’s winner of the USTA’s Australian Open wildcard challenge is Patrick Kypson, the 26-year-old who has never won a Grand Slam main draw match before.

What Hana Mandlikova told Elizabeth Mandlik about playing tennis

There has understandably been a lot of expectation on the shoulders of Mandlik, given what her mother achieved in the sport.

However, that pressure does not appear to be coming from Mandlikova, with Mandlik recently telling the USTA.com that her mother actually did the opposite.

“There’s a lot of people out there that have a sense of like, ‘Oh, well, she’s supposed to be good.’ And that’s not really how it works,” said Mandlik.

“Everybody is their own person and has their own success. [My mother] always just tried to put in my head that whatever you do, you did it, and it doesn’t matter what she did.”

She added, “She influenced me in a way that… ‘If you don’t want to play the sport, if you want to quit right now, that’s totally OK,'” Mandlik explained. “She never put pressure on me. She never made it seem like, ‘Oh, because I played you have to play,’ or ‘Because I played, you have to be good.'”

Mandlik will look to win her first ever match at the Australian Open, with the main draw getting underway on Sunday, January 18.

Her only previous appearance in the main draw of the Australian Open saw her lose from a set up against Irina-Camelia Begu.