Former Grand Slam champions Emma Raducanu and Dominic Thiem headline the qualifying lists for the 2024 Australian Open following their recoveries from injuries.
Raducanu - the 2021 US Open champion - endured an injury-plagued 2023 season, which was cut short in April due to the Briton's severe wrist and ankle problems.
The 21-year-old - whose last match came all the way back in April's Stuttgart Open - was treated for carpal bosses, a painful condition where bone grows too close to the joint, and did not turn out for the rest of the 2023 season as she recovered from surgery.
However, it was announced earlier this month that Raducanu would be making her competitive comeback at January's ASB Classic in Auckland, which serves as a warm-up for the Australian Open.
Using a protected ranking of 103, the former British number one is now confirmed to be entering the qualifying event for the first Grand Slam of the year, which takes place between January 15 and January 29.
Raducanu's only previous two appearances at the Australian Open ended in the second round, as she lost to Danka Kovinic in 2022 before Coco Gauff eliminated her in the most recent event.
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The 21-year-old memorably came through qualifying without dropping a set en route to winning the 2021 US Open, which made her GB's first female Grand Slam singles champion since Virginia Wade in 1977.
Raducanu is the fifth-highest ranked player in the women's singles qualifying rounds, while Thiem sits at the top of the men's qualifying rankings as he also looks to bounce back from a troublesome wrist injury.
The 2020 US Open champion sustained the problem all the way back in 2021, in which he missed Wimbledon and the US Open before also sitting out the 2022 Australian Open and Wimbledon tournaments.
A former US Open finalist in 2020 - where he lost to Novak Djokovic - Thiem was involved in all four major tournaments last year, but he lost at the first hurdle in Australia, Roland-Garros and SW19 before reaching round two of the US Open.
Nevertheless, the 30-year-old ended a three-year wait for another ATP final at the Austrian Open on home soil, where he lost to Sebastian Baez, and he ended the season sat 98th in the world rankings.
While Thiem is scheduled to go through the preliminary rounds, he will be first in line for a spot in the main draw if any competitors pull out of the tournament in the next couple of weeks.
Ben Knapton
