The only New Zealanders in the mixed doubles at the Australian Open are the two you would expect – but they’re not playing with each other. Instead, Michael Venus and Aldila Sutjiadi will be playing against Erin Routliffe and Jackson Withrow in the first round. To add a bit more interest, Routliffe’s partner Gaby Dabrowski is playing with Withrow’s usual partner, Nathaniel Lammons.
This is where I’ll add my usual rant against the Australian Open. It may be a wonderful tournament, but why on earth do they give wild cards to a quarter of the field in the mixed doubles? That’s like giving 32 wild cards in singles! Of the eight, seven have gone to Australian pairs, with the other going to the Brazilian team of Luisa Stefani, who spent much of last year out injured, and Rafael Matos.
It doesn’t matter that the Australian pairs are pretty handy doubles players; the same applies to everyone else who would like to have played this event. The only Australian pair who did not get a wild card are the top seeds, Storm Hunter and Matthew Ebden, and the only other Australian player in the draw on her own merits is Ellen Perez. She and Jean-Julien Rojer are the eighth seeds.