Zhang Shuai and Kasidit Samrej Secure Asia-Pacific Wildcards for 2025 Australian Open

The recently concluded Australian Open Asia-Pacific Wildcard Play-off crowned Zhang Shuai of China and Kasidit Samrej of Thailand as its champions in the women’s and men’s singles categories, respectively. Zhang, a seasoned competitor with multiple Grand Slam appearances, solidified her return to the Melbourne stage, while 23-year-old Samrej achieved a historic milestone. His victory means he will become the first Thai player to enter the main draw of the men’s singles at a Grand Slam event since Danai Udomchoke graced the courts of the Australian Open in 2012. Both players will now prepare to showcase their talent at the 2025 Australian Open, where they aim to make their mark on one of tennis’s biggest stages.

It was the first time the Asia-Pacific Wildcard Play-off had been held in five years, with the long hiatus coming as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament, which allows players from the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Australia) to win wildcard entries into the main draw of the Australian Open, was held annually in China from 2012 to 2019 before a break during which the Asia-Pacific wildcards were simply selected each year by the tournament organisers. However, this year the wildcard play-off returned to China, specifically to the city of Chengdu in Sichuan Province, at the same venue where the men's ATP Tour 250 tournament has been held for several years.

For Zhang, this was an opportunity to get her singles career back on track. After an injury that forced her absence from the tour from August 2023 to February 2024, she really struggled on her return. By September she was on an incredible streak of 24 consecutive losses in singles, a run that stretched back to before her injury layoff. That miserable run ended in Beijing, where amazingly she notched up four wins to reach the quarterfinals at the high-level WTA 1000 event. By the end of the season, however, her ranking was not high enough for direct entry to the Australian Open main draw. Thus, the Asia-Pacific Wildcard Play-off would present an excellent opportunity for her play in Melbourne again, and an easier path than the regular qualifying tournament which is played in the week before the main event.

Zhang's journey to the Play-off final went about as smoothly as she could've hoped, as she notched up three consecutive wins without dropping a set and spent only about 3 and a half hours on court. In contrast, her opponent in the final, compatriot Guo Hanyu, had spent around 3 hours on court in just her semifinal match alone. Guo as a doubles specialist was a somewhat surprising finalist, but had won a lot of matches on the singles court in the lead up to the Play-off, finishing runner-up and lifting a trophy at tournaments in China. Nonetheless, Zhang had been playing at a much higher level, and this was expected to be quite a winnable match for her.

However, the final turned out to be a very competitive affair and much more difficult for Zhang than she might have expected. The first set went to a tiebreak, which Zhang won 7-2. But in the second set she fell apart and it was Guo who was dominating play, incredibly taking the second set 6-0. The decider was very tense, but it was Zhang who stepped up when it mattered toward the business end of the set, eventually taking it 7-5. She let out a scream of delight upon winning match point, having secured her place in the main draw of the major where she was a quarterfinalist back in 2016. It was a great moment for Zhang who had had a very tough time in the first half of the season, but had now ended it in such positive fashion. Meanwhile, although she lost, Guo should take great encouragement from how well she performed (she actually won more points overall than Zhang!), and on this evidence perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad idea for her to follow the path of Ena Shibahara and play more tournaments on the singles circuit.

Zhang Shuai celebrates as she clinches victory over Guo Hanyu to win the Asia-Pacific wildcard.

However, unlike Zhang, who at the age of 35 had secured her spot in the main draw of the Australian Open for the thirteenth time, Samrej was aiming to achieve something way beyond anything he'd achieved in his career so far. He'd had a pretty good season by his standards, but at a career-high ATP ranking of 413 coming into the tournament, the 23-year-old had never had a chance to qualify for a Grand Slam event (a ranking closer to the top 200 is needed to enter the regular qualifying tournaments for the majors).

Samrej entered the Wildcard Play-off as the fourth seed, but his path to the final was a tough one. Although he came through his opening match in fairly straightforward fashion in straight sets, he had to come back from a set down to win his quarterfinal match against the fifth seed, Xiao Linang; in the semifinals, he faced the number 1 seed, Sun Fajing, and again needed to play three sets to get the win and secure his spot in the final.

Standing in his way of that precious wildcard was the second-seed Rio Noguchi. The 25-year-old Japanese player was ranked 302 in the world heading into the tournament but has been as high as 201 in the ATP rankings. It was by no means expected to be an easy match for Samrej. However, it was the less-experienced Samrej who started off best, taking the first set 6-4. The Thai player then went up an early break in the second set, and it looked like he might take a 3-0 lead and run away with it. However, the Japanese player had other ideas and fought valiantly in the rallies to break back. Eventually Noguchi stepped it up and was making fewer errors than his opponent, and went on to take the second set 6-4.

Would the Thai number 1 regret letting that set slip? He would need to quickly reset for the decider. It seemed like he managed to do just that as, like in the second set, Samrej went up an early break. This time, however, he held on in his next service game and took a 3-0 lead. His strong serving and powerful groundstrokes were eventually too much for Noguchi, and the Thai youngster went on to take the final set 6-1, and with that, the wildcard spot. He doesn't show much emotion on the court but he smiled with delight and raised his hands to the sky as he clinched the win. He even shed a tear as it started to dawn on him the enormity of what he had achieved. It really was a wonderful accomplishment for Samrej. He was the first Thai man to make the singles draw at a major in 13 years. Moreover, the prize money he secured at the Australian Open is more than all the prize money earned in his career so far.

Kasidit Samrej celebrates as he clinches the win over Rio Noguchi to win the Australian Open Asia-Pacific Wildcard Play-off

To play in the main draw in Melbourne will surely be an extremely valuable experience for Samrej. A look at past winners of this wildcard tournament shows players who went on to achieve big things in the game. Previous men's winners include Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka and Korea's Kwon Soon-woo, who both went on to win multiple ATP titles and play in numerous Grand Slam events. Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan won the Asia-Pacific Wildcard for the 2017 Australian Open, where his run to the fourth round is the stuff of legend. Istomin famously beat Novak Djokovic in the second round in an incredible five-set match.

Samrej still has some way to go to reach the level of these players but at 23 he's still got his best years ahead of him. He has a good height, standing at 6'3" or 191cm, which helps him produce the great power he has in his serve and groundstrokes. When it gets going his forehand can be particularly dangerous, but his backhand is potent as well. All of this bodes well for the Thai up-and-comer to move much further up the rankings. As well as the previous Asia-Pacific Wildcard winners, perhaps he can draw some inspiration from the GOAT of Thai tennis, Paradorn Srichaphan, who reached the fourth round of the Australian Open in 2004 and as high as number 9 in the world. Whatever happens, this first main-draw experience at a major can certainly be a great springboard for Samrej for the rest of his career.

He won't be the only Thai player at the 2025 Australian Open either. Peangtarn Plipuech of Thailand won the Asia-Pacific Wildcard Play-off alongside her Taiwanese partner Tsao Chia-yi in the women's doubles. It will be the third Grand Slam appearance for Plipuech, and the first for Tsao. Meanwhile, in the men's doubles, the Japanese pairing of Seita Watanabe and Takeru Yuzuki won the Asia-Pacific wildcard spot and will make their Grand Slam debut in Melbourne. The last players to win this tournament in the men's doubles were Korea's Nam Ji-Sung and Song Min-kyu, who qualified for the 2020 Australian Open where they made their slam debut. They were drawn against home favourites Lleyton Hewitt and Jordan Thompson, and played their match in front of a packed Melbourne Arena. The Koreans went on to win in straight sets, and that surely remains one of the proudest moments of their careers. You just never know what will happen, and that's exactly why we'll be watching with great interest to see how all these Asia-Pacific winners get on in January in Melbourne.