Wildcard. Mahut. Now. DO IT.

I'm serious, Australian Open. I'm so serious I started a Twitter campaign about it. You may have noticed it. It's grown a lot pretty quickly. The hashtag is #wildcardformahut. And the aim...?

TO GET NICOLAS MAHUT A WILDCARD TO THE 2011 AUSTRALIAN OPEN.

Mahut's already been passed over by his own federation in favour of Benoit Paire (still not entirely sure who that is) so it is up to the Aussies to do right by this guy and give him a wildcard. And he deserves one - more than anyone else I can think of. Let's review:

- He flew all the way to Australia just to play the Hopman Cup.
- He did this to replace someone else, out of the goodness of his heart.
- He has been one of the crowd favourites, if not THE crowd favourite, all week.
- He beat Potito Starace, who is ranked nearly a hundred places above him, in very handy straight sets.
- He gave Andy Murray a very big scare.
- He is a wonderful player to watch - and people WANT to watch him.
- He is all aggression and French flair and dynamic tennis - he plays tennis in the spirit of the game, so to speak.
- He has been inside the top hundred and has the talent, game and desire to get there again - which would be helped by a wildcard.
- He played the longest match ever last year, so it's not like he's some nobody that isn't any kind of drawcard.
- He got absolutely shafted by the US Open last year.
- He got shafted by his own federation, who wildcarded someone else.
- He wore a dress in the mixed doubles at Hopman Cup. Seriously, enough said.
- About a bazillion people want him to get a wildcard (seriously, check Twitter. It's a LOT of people.)
- HE IS AWESOME.

I would write a longer list, but it is two thirty in the morning and even those of us righteously campaigning for the Mahuts of the world to get wildcards need sleep. But please, Australian Open, do right by this guy. He has got the rough end of the stick so many times, and you are in a position to be benevolent. Give Mahut a wildcard. He's not going to win the tournament, but he will play some very stylish, watchable tennis - and people will watch it. They will WANT to watch it. Because Nicolas Mahut is seven kinds of awesome.