Débuts at Melbourne Park

Début Grand Slam appearance

At the age of 28, Junri Namigata will be making her first appearance in the main-draw of a Grand Slam. The Japanese fell in the third round of qualifying at Wimbledon and the US Open last year but a strong end of season showing, including a good performance on home-soil in a 75k ITF event in Toyota elevated the Japanese No.3 to a career-high ranking of No.112, thus sealing her berth in the main-draw.

Two players have made their first main-draw appearance via qualifying. Arina Rodionova, the younger sister of Anastasia, defeated Anne Kremer and Zuzana Kucova en route to the main-draw while Lesya Tsurenko from Ukraine dashed the hopes of Heather Watson in the second qualifying round before defeating her experienced compatriot Mariya Koryttseva in the final round.

Jamie Hampton also qualified for the main-draw although she received a wild-card into the main-draw of the US Open last year.

Début Grand Slam appearance by direct acceptance;

PRIOR to 2010, Andrea Hlavackova was perhaps better known for her exploits in doubles but the flat-hitting Czech has gained direct-entry for her first Grand Slam. Hlavackova qualified for the main-draw at Wimbledon last year, where she defeated Noppawan Lertcheewakarn in the first round before falling to eventual finalist Vera Zvonareva.

Rebecca Marino made the second round of the US Open as a qualifier last year and the Canadian gave Venus Williams a stern test on Arthur Ashe court. The 20-year-old, who has a big serve and forehand, went on to defeat Marion Bartoli in Quebec City, which was followed by an 18-match win streak on the ITF circuit.

Zhang Shuai came to prominence when she upset world No.1 Dinara Safina in Beijing in 2009 and the Chinese, who has made two Grand Slams in the past as a qualifier, will be contesting her first main-draw at Melbourne Park.

Alison Riske, who gained a wild-card into Wimbledon last year and Christine McHale, who narrowly missed making the cut by merit at last year's US Open, are also making their débuts via direct acceptance.

Début Grand Slam appearance by wild-card;

17-year-old Caroline Garcia was awarded the French wild-card and this will be her first appearance in the main-draw of a Grand Slam. Garcia, who made the quarter-finals of the US Open juniors last year, already has three top-100 wins to her credit in senior competitions (Sandra Zahlavova, Alize Cornet and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova).

Lauren Davis, ranked No.4 in juniors, gained the US wild-card after defeating Coco Vandeweghe in the play-off final and she has a tough baptism in the main-draw, facing Samantha Stosur in the first round. Davis, who trains at the Chris Evert Academy, has won her last 18 matches on the junior circuit with titles at the prestigious Orange Bowl and Eddie Herr tournaments as well as an eleven match win streak on the ITF circuit.

Other notables;

MIRJANA LUCIC'S off-court struggles have been well-documented but the Croatian is now fully focused on her tennis again and she re-entered the top-100 last October after a ten-year absence. Lucic, who won the doubles at the Australian Open back in 1998, is reaping the benefits of her persistence and hard work as she has gained direct-entry into a Grand Slam for the first time since Wimbledon in 2000. In her last appearance in Melbourne Park eleven years ago, Lucic lost in the first round to No.1 seed Martina Hingis.

Another veteran to stage a resurgence in the past twelve months is Hungary's Greta Arn, who won her second WTA title last week in Auckland and the 31-year-old has gained direct-entry into Melbourne Park for the first time since 2003 where she lost to Nadia Petrova in the first round.

Laura Pous-Tio, having last made the main-draw cut in 2007, has gained direct-entry for a Grand Slam after a four-year absence. Likewise, Zuzana Ondraskova will be returning to the main-draw for the first time since Wimbledon in 2007.

Somewhat surprisingly, Bethanie Mattek-Sands will be making her Australian Open main-draw debut after falling in qualifying in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010.