Tennis fans quip who is in the race for most wildcards between Caroline Wozniacki and Emma Raducanu in debate stirred after Madrid Open draw

Caroline Wozniacki and Emma Raducanu are two of the main players to receive wildcards for the 2024 Madrid Open which got fans thinking about which players have received the most and it is currently the former who is leading the way.

Wozniacki returned to the sport in late 2023 after an absence of around three years which meant that the former World No.1 had to rely on wildcards in order to even play. This though was a point of conjecture towards Simona Halep by Wozniacki albeit for different reasons with the Dane taking issue with her previous comments surrounding Maria Sharapova and her doping return.

Halep was banned for use of Roxudustat and had her ban reduced from four years to nine months returning as soon as she could at the 2024 Miami Open. But Halep protested her innocence saying she didn't dope so wasn't in the same ball park. Despite the fact that she technically got found guilty.

Raducanu has had to rely on them for a different reason with the former US Open champion suffering a stark ranking drop due to injury and pressures post winning her biggest title as an unknown. She only just had a protected ranking that would get her into qualifying as opposed to main draw. As a huge name and draw in the sport, this means that wildcards while only being slimly needed depending on event were very much expected.

Wozniacki has had seven though since then as per a response to the question from an X user after an initial wildcard post playing at Auckland, Australian Open, San Diego, Indian Wells, Miami and Charleston this year alone. She has increased ranking but not sufficiently to get into a draw based off it. Raducanu has had wildcards into Auckland, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Indian Wells and Stuttgart. As well as Miami which would put her on the same amount. But she withdrew from the tournament before it started.

The race for wildcards may also become fiercer with the fact that certain players protected rankings will soon run out so barring a ranking rise, there will be more competition. Also given the FFT's policy on wildcards, this is unlikely to happen for Wozniacki, Raducanu or Halep going into the French Open.

Raducanu is five off the main draw in terms of entering, while Wozniacki and Halep may have to skip the tournament entirely due to a lack of wildcard and for the latter unlikely to even get into qualifying. An interesting debate though on who is favoured the most in terms of wildcards and one likely to continue.