Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan was one of a dozen tennis players who were handed wildcards into the Olympics on Monday.
Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Kevin Anderson of South Africa, both surprise winners on the tour this year, also received wildcards.
Defending Olympic champion Nicolas Massu of Chile has been successful in his campaign to take part in the tournament despite his world ranking having slumped to 93.
Swedish veteran Jonas Bjorkman, 35, who will retire at the end of the year, Belarus’ Max Mirnyi and China’s Peng Sun were also handed wildcards.
Chan, Taiwan’s top-ranked singles player, was eliminated by Dinara Safina of Russia in the first round at Wimbledon this year.
Japanese teenager Nishikori won the title in Delray Beach, while Anderson was the Las Vegas winner.
In the women’s singles, invitations also went to Alicia Molik of Australia, Maria Koryttseva of Ukraine, Japan’s Ayumi Morita, Nuria Llagostera-Vives of Spain and Tunisia’s Selima Sfar.
“Each of the players who have been awarded an ITF [International Tennis Federation] Place brings special qualities to the field for the 2008 Olympic Tennis Event,” ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti said.
“Some of the players are young competitors from under-represented parts of the world while others are former medallists or long-standing participants in their country’s Davis Cup and Fed Cup efforts,” Bitti said.
Molik was thrilled by her inclusion in the field.
“This is probably the best news I’ve had since 2004,” Molik said. “I have played in two Olympics and I have to say they’re the absolute highlight of my career. Nothing comes close to playing in the Olympics, representing your country. It is the most amazing experience any individual can have. It was always a childhood dream of mine.”
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