Following in family footsteps, Elli Mandlik clinches Australian Open return in wild card play-off

Melbourne has been a special place for Elizabeth "Elli" Mandlik’s family since long before she was born.

“Obviously, my mom played,” the 24-year-old reminded me, modestly noting mother Hana Mandlikova’s two Australian Open titles.

But the family lineage goes even further: Mandlik’s grandfather Vilem was in Melbourne running in the 1956 Summer Olympic Games, reaching the semifinals in the 200 metres.

“Maybe I can be the third one in my family to do something big there!”

Mandlik is set to return Down Under in January for the first time in two years. The former world No. 97 won the USTA’s annual Australian Open Wild Card Challenge, edging countrywoman Claire Liu in a series of tournaments across a five-week stretch this fall.

When you’re guaranteed main draw, you get a longer pre-season, you can enter a warm-up event or two before the Australian Open if you’d like...I’ve had to play qualies the last couple years so having the wild card means a lot. Everything feels much calmer. Elli Mandlik

“It’s a really great opportunity for all the Americans to battle with each other and fight for that wild card,” said Mandlik, who made her Australian Open debut as a lucky loser back in 2023.

🖥️📲 THIS WEEK: Stream the Australian Open Asia-Pacific Wild Card Play Off on the TC App!

Prior to the Challenge, the Boca Raton-born Mandlik was just hoping for the chance to enter Melbourne’s qualifying draw, her ranking having fallen to No. 270 at the beginning of October. She switched coaches a month prior, hiring the duo of Emiliano Redondi and Juan Pablo Guzman, and enjoyed immediate success when she won a W100 title in Edmond, Oklahoma.

“By the time I realized I was also in the running for the main-draw wild card, I had already secured my spot in qualies, and that was such a weight lifted off my back,” said Mandlik.

It came down to a near-head-to-head between Mandlik and Liu, both of whom were entered at a WTA 125K tournament in Austin, Texas.

I feel very blessed to be playing a sport she played already. She knows the ins and outs and she’s been able to prepare me for all the little crevices I might get into. Obviously, I’ve had to go through a lot on my own, but she knows how it feels when different things have happened to me, so it allows me to feel a little bit ahead of the game sometimes. She gives me so much support and knowledge. Elli Mandlik on mother Hana Mandlikova

“It was actually pretty crazy how it all played out,” Mandlik recalled. “We both won our first rounds and I won my second round. If she had won her second round, we would have played each other and that would have been the match to secure the wild card.

“She ended up losing one round early, but it was crazy to think of people watching that match had it happened, and if they knew what we were playing for. It would have been a completely different level of stakes and pressure. Not being able to play that match was a little disappointing because it would have been such a great experience. Still, I was very happy to secure it outright!”

Though still ranked outside the Top 100, the guaranteed main-draw entry not only lengthens Mandlik’s pre-season but also opens more opportunities to compete ahead of the first Grand Slam tournament of 2026.

“When you have to play qualies, it’s more difficult because you can’t play that extra warm-up. You have to cut your pre-season shorter,” Mandlik explained. “So, having that main-draw date and knowing your schedule makes things much easier. I’ve had to play qualies the last couple years so having the wild card means a lot. Everything feels much calmer.”

Managing stress has been crucial to Mandlik’s resurgence, allowing her rediscover the form that first turned heads in 2022. As a qualifier at a WTA event in San Jose, she knocked out Alison Riske-Amritra and pushed then-world No. 4 Paula Badosa to a third-set tiebreaker. A month later, she won her first Grand Slam main-draw match in at the US Open, shocking former Roland Garros semifinalist Tamara Zidansek.

“In the past, I was more of an emotional player,” Mandlik recalled. “I could have a great week and then have a horrible week and get really upset about that. It was kind of like a roller coaster in my mind. As I got more used to being on tour, breaking into the Top 100 and falling out, I’ve really figured out how to calm my mind and work through all the day-to-day things that let me play every day like it’s the same.”

Drawing experience from her mother, a five-time major champion and Hall of Famer, has also impacted her development.

“I feel very blessed to be playing a sport she played already. She knows the ins and outs and she’s been able to prepare me for all the little crevices I might get into. Obviously, I’ve had to go through a lot on my own, but she knows how it feels when different things have happened to me, so it allows me to feel a little bit ahead of the game sometimes. She gives me so much support and knowledge.”

Mandlik will have family joining her in Melbourne; her brother and his fiancée will be making the trip for the first time, and Mandlik herself plans for an early arrival Down Under to maximize her prep time for her first major main-draw match since 2023 Roland Garros.

But before the Mandlik family begins a third generation’s quest for success in Australia, they’ll spend the off-season together at home.

“I travel all the time as it is!” joked Mandlik, having already booked her first big ticket of 2026.