Isner granted wildcard for Australian Open

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - American John Isner and Uzbek Denis Istomin have been granted wildcards for the Australian Open later this month, organizers said Thursday.

Isner, 23, and Istomin, 22, both played at Melbourne Park last year, the American losing in the first round to France's Fabrice Santoro, while Istomin advanced to the second round before losing to in four sets to local favorite Lleyton Hewitt.

China's Yuan Meng, who had to qualify for last year's tournament before losing to Serena Williams in the second round of the main draw, was also granted a wildcard.

Both Istomin and Yuang were the highest-ranked Asian players not already in the main draw.

They will be joined by promising juniors 16-year-old American Christina McHale and 15-year-old Kristina Mladenovic of France.

France's Adrian Mannarino, ranked 129th in the world, was given the final wildcard as part of a reciprocal agreement with the United States Tennis Association, French Tennis Federation and Asian Tennis Federation.

Australia's Colin Ebelthite and Jelena Dokic earlier won qualifying tournaments for wildcards.

The final eight wildcards, at the discretion of organizers, will be awarded within the next week.

The year's first grand slam runs from January 19-February 1.

(Reporting by Greg Stutchbury; Editing by Peter Rutherford)