French duo Cornet, Cazaux receive wild cards for Australian Open

French tennis players Alize Cornet and Arthur Cazaux have been given wild-card entries for next month's Australian Open, the French tennis federation said Monday.

The 33-year-old Cornet, who is ranked 116th, will participate in the tournament for the 19th time in her career and make a record-extending 68th consecutive appearance at a major. She reached the quarterfinals for the first time in Melbourne last year — her best achievement at any major.

The 21-year-old Cazaux is ranked 130th after climbing from 381st at the start of the year, and he goes into main draw first time at the Jan. 15-28 tournament.

Cazaux has shown promise by winning one challenger series title and reaching three other challenger finals in 2023 — losing one of them to three-time major winner Andy Murray on grass at the Nottingham Open in June.

The wild card deal is part of a swap arrangement with the Australian tennis federation, which will also receive wild cards for the clay-court French Open, to be held at Roland Garros from May 26-June 9.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis