Denis Kudla, 22, has won the USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge despite dropping a dramatic quarterfinal at the Champaign challenger.
The world No. 125 had six match points against qualifier Frederik Nielsen but could not convert any, eventually losing 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-2. Marcos Giron would have won the wild card by reaching the final, but he also exited in the quarterfinals. Based on the rules of the competition, that gave the wild card to Kudla, who had also reached the semifinals of the Charlottesville challenger.
Irina Falconi won the women's wild card.