Former world number seven
Fernando Verdasco and WTA world number three
Paula Badosa are among those saddened by the wildcard selections announced for the 2022
Madrid Open.
The invitations, announced yesterday, include just one Spaniard for main draw competition and only five of 19 across main draws and qualifying. Meanwhile, a number of wildcards went to players managed by IMG, the management group that acquired the Madrid Open late last year.
As such, Spanish pros like 2009 Australian Open
semi-finalist Verdasco, ATP top 100 pro Carlos Taberner and veteran
Pablo Andujar have tweeted out a statement opposing the selections. The statement
reads:
“We find it surprising, as well as very frustrating, that the
biggest tennis event in Spain shows so little (or no) support for
Spanish tennis players with the [wildcards] granted, especially to the
main draws. We find the criteria used by the promoting company and the tournament owners to give these wildcards to be unreasonable."
One of those who recently benefitted from such a wildcard policy is
2021 Indian Wells champion Badosa, who voiced her support for the
movement. She replied to Verdasco
and others, tweeting:
“Very sad to see things like this for Spanish
tennis when there is a lot of potential. A year ago I entered the tournament with a wildcard. I had one of the best tournaments of my career, a tournament that I will never forget thanks to a wildcard.”