"As a champion, it’s tough for me. I thought I deserved a wildcard" - Reigning Queen's champion Tatjana Maria responds to wildcard snub

Reigning champion Tatjana Maria was expected to return to Queen's Club Championships as a hero after winning the first edition of the event since 1973. However, she had to get into the tournament the hard way after being snubbed of a wildcard. This was something that she has since responded to.

The German is set to drop out of the top 120 once the 500 points won last year being taken off. This looked like it could be a certainty following her being forced to come through qualifying. However, she has managed to pull off that feat and will appear in the main draw with the target of defending her title.

She was in blistering form this time last year. She got the better of Leylah Fernandez, Karolina Muchova, Elena Rybakina, Madison Keys and Amanda Anisimova in the final to lift a fourth WTA title at the age of 37, the oldest player to win a WTA 500 title.

She was a qualifier last year, and was forced to go through that process once more despite her incredible run in 2025. The four wildcards all went to the Brits with Katie Boulter, Francesca Jones, Harriet Dart and 17-year-old Mika Stojsavljevic all getting handed the chance to play in London over Maria.

In qualifying, she defeated British player Yuriko Lily Miyazaki in three sets before getting the better of Kamilla Rakhimova 6-4, 6-3 to confirm a spot back in Queen's.

Going into the grass swing, this was one of the tournaments she was almost certain that she would feature in the main draw of. This would be via the wildcard route, but her estimations proved to be wrong.

“I was pretty sure to get a wildcard, or I was hoping to get a wildcard, because I did it [win] last year,” she said. “It was not five years ago. I was surprised when I got the message of [the tournament director] Laura Robson saying all the wildcards would go to the British players, which I understand, of course, but as a champion, it’s tough for me [to accept]. I thought I deserved a wildcard.

“You have to respect the player in general. It is something that should be normal. If you are champion of an event and you don’t get in the year after, I think automatically this should be considered. It’s something out of respect.”

It was not just her who was surprised when a wildcard was not offered. “The response from everybody around was really huge when they knew I didn’t get the wildcard,” she commented. “A lot of members here came to me and said: ‘Really, we don’t understand why you didn’t get the wildcard.’

“So it was super nice, from members, from players and from journalists, all around the world I got a lot of positive feedback. I was surprised about it and I was really happy that everybody said something to try to help me.”

The Brits were handed an opportunity to shine on home soil, bathing in the support from their home fans. A LTA spokesperson said: "The LTA owns and invests in staging these events for the benefit of the British game as a whole – so fans can see world-class international players from around the world, and support our British players, but also so British players are afforded the playing opportunities to progress their careers and climb the rankings. We have seen British success at these events, and breakthrough wins, so there is clear value in giving British players these development opportunities.”

In the end, all worked out well with Maria competing in the main draw, although with two matches already under her belt. She has a tricky prospect in store in the form of Maria Sakkari as he first round test. The winner has the daunting task of competing against the number one seed Elena Rybakina.