ACT toiler James Frawley has earned his first main draw wild card to the Canberra Challenger and plans on making it count on Sunday.
Frawley only returned to full-time tennis two years ago after taking a break to finish his bachelor degree and spent last year touring Europe, North American and Asia.
James Frawley has a wild card to his home tournament, the Canberra Challenger. Credit:Ben Southall
The 24-year-old wants to impress at home this week and will face his former doubles partner and New Zealander Rhett Purcell in the opening round.
Frawley has also played doubles with childhood friend Nick Kyrgios but will largely play on the secondary tour this year.
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The baseliner has signed to play for a German club in 2019 but first wants to enjoy his Australian summer and win his maiden Challenger.
"To be honest I'm not too sure how I got the wild card because I wasn't expecting one but I got the message and it's pretty cool, I'm pumped to do well," Frawley said.
"I'll go out there with pretty much nothing to lose so I'll give it my all and leave it all out there and see what happens.
"Ive played doubles with and against Rhett, we're good mates. We have different game styles so it should be an interesting match up.
"Hes more aggressive than me, taller and bigger, but I think it's a pretty even match, both of us have a good opportunity to progress.
"If you get out of the first round and get the ball rolling and grow in confidence then anything can happen.
"I haven't entered doubles yet but I'll probably play with an Australian."
James Duckworth will headline the tournament with the former world No. 82 looking to take down the likes of top seed Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena who is world No. 73.
Czech Republic's Jiri Vesely, who claims Novak Djokovic as a scalp, and Steve Darcis, who beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, will both feature.
Menawhile, Canberran Alison Bai secured one of the biggest wins of her career at the Hobart International qualifiers.
Bai took down top-100 player Anastasia Potapova in straight sets 6-3 6-2 and will meet compatriot Olivia Rogowska for a chance to play in the main draw of the $317,000 tournament.
Eamonn Tiernan is a sports reporter with The Canberra Times
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