Grand Slam champions Naomi Osaka, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki have been given Wimbledon wildcards but the 2019 winner Simona Halep, who is back from a drugs ban, has been overlooked.
Halep was one of the big talking points before the announcement given her status as a former champion — normally enough to secure a wildcard, as with Kerber — but only recently return from a doping suspension.
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Last week, when asked about Wimbledon’s policy on wildcards for players who have served drugs bans, the All England Club’s chair Deborah Jevans said: “Once a player has served any drugs ban, they’re then free to compete in the circuit and as such the wildcard committee would consider that and their performance when considering that wildcard.” The French Open, where Halep is also a former champion, similarly decided against giving her a wildcard last month.
Wildcards are given by tournaments to players who are not ranked high enough — in the case of a Grand Slam inside the world’s top 100 — to receive automatic entry. Typically they are handed out to home players and ones who have a particular affinity with the event.
In the case of Wimbledon today, the wildcards are dominated by the former. All seven of the ones given to men’s singles players were to British players, with one left to be allocated in the next week or so. On the women’s side, Osaka, Kerber and Wozniacki were the only non-British singles players to be given wildcards. Emma Raducanu, the US Open champion three years ago is among the British players to have been given a wildcard, as she continues her comeback after a terrible run of wrist and ankle injuries.
Osaka, a four-time major champion, is ranked outside the top 100 after returning from maternity leave earlier this year, while Wozniacki launched a comeback in 2023 after retiring in 2020, two years on from winning her only Grand Slam at the Australian Open. Kerber won Wimbledon in 2018, her third major title, and is competing again this year after returning from maternity leave in December.
The qualifying and doubles wildcards have also been given almost exclusively to British players, with the one exception being the American Clervie Ngounoue, who as the reigning girls’ champion, gets one into qualifying. Amongst the British youngsters who will be hoping to make it through qualifying into the main draw are Hannah Klugman and Mika Stojsavljevic (both 15), both of whom have been tipped as ones to watch.
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The right calls?
As for the fairness of all this, that remains a thorny issue. To outsiders and many within tennis, it can seem very strange that tournaments give out wildcards to players whose ranking is not even close to meriting a place over ones who are ranked a lot higher just because of their nationality. At other events, wildcards are even given to certain players because they are part of the same management company that is running the tournament.
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When it comes to major omissions from the list, former US Open champion Dominic Thiem is one name that sticks out. He is ranked outside the world’s top 100 after suffering a debilitating wrist injury but has always been very popular with spectators and is due to retire in October. He has never advanced beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon, which could count against him, but that is true also of Osaka and Wozniacki, and he will surely be in consideration for the final wildcard spot.
Qualifying for Wimbledon gets underway next Monday, with the tournament itself starting a week later on July 1.
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(Top photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)