Days after giving up his chance at an Australian Open start for the birth of his daughter, Queenslander Ben Mitchell has secured a late entry to next week's Brisbane International.
The 23-year-old from the Gold Coast has received the wildcard spot left vacant when Thanasi Kokkinakis was forced to withdraw from the entire Australian tennis summer due to a shoulder injury.
Mitchell withdrew from the final of the Australian Open wildcard playoff event against good friend James Duckworth nine days ago in order to attend the birth of his daughter.
But he now joins Duckworth (NSW) and fellow wildcard John-Patrick Smith (Qld) in a Brisbane International men's field featuring eight of the world's top 20 players, including Roger Federer, Kei Nishikori, Marin Cilic and Milos Raonic.
In March Mitchell climbed to a career-high ranking of world No.204 and last month he ended his season on a similarly strong note, taking out the ATP Challenger event in Canberra and ITF Futures title in Wollongong over consecutive weeks.
"I've been training hard, even over the Christmas break. I've kept plugging along and even though I have a baby girl at home I'll be ready to go next week," promised Mitchell.
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