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London - Australian teenager Thanasi Kokkinakis was given a wild card into the Wimbledon warm-up event at Queen's Club on Saturday.
Rising star Kokkinakis was granted the late entry into the west London grass-court tournament, which begins on Monday, after Britain's Kyle Edmund was forced to withdraw due to an abdominal injury.
The 19-year-old broke into the world's top 100 recently and is now at a career-high 69 in the ATP Tour rankings.
Kokkinakis demonstrated his vast potential by reaching the second round of the Australian Open and the last 16 in Indian Wells earlier this year, while also winning his first challenger title in Bordeaux.
He joins a strong Queen's Club line-up which contains eight of the world's top 14 players, including Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic.
"Kyle desperately wanted to play, and we were looking forward to seeing him, but he hasn't quite returned to full fitness in time to compete at this level. We wish him a full and speedy recovery," tournament director Stephen Farrow said.
"At the same time, Thanasi has posted some impressive results this year, he's an exciting prospect and this is a great opportunity to show what he can do."
Kokkinakis will play French world number 37 Jeremy Chardy in the first round at Queen's.
