Caroline Wozniacki’s father hits out at French Open organisers as she is denied wild-card entry
Caroline Wozniacki’s father, Piotr, has hit out at tennis administrators after the former world No 1 failed to receive a wild-card invitation into the main draw for next week’s French Open.
Like Emma Raducanu, another former slam champion who was denied a wild card, Wozniacki, who was born in Denmark to Polish parents, declined to go through this week’s qualifying event. As Piotr explained in an interview with the Polish newspaper Sport: “Caroline said she didn’t work hard all her life and didn’t achieve that much to start like a junior now.”
The French Tennis Federation (FFT) had eight wild cards to hand out in each of the two singles draws, making 16 in all. They gave 12 of these to French players, and two each to the Australians and the Americans as part of reciprocal deals that allow French players to participate at the US Open and Australian Open in return.
In the interview, Wozniacki Snr slammed the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), even though they have no say in the FFT’s decisions. His daughter stands at No117 in the world, having launched a comeback after a three-and-a-half year absence last August.
“Caroline is a perfect example to show everyone how pathological women’s tennis is,” he said. “My daughter does not have a protected ranking because she had a long break, and that’s fine.
“But isn’t it worth helping such a girl if she decided to come back? The WTA believes that it is operating in an amateur fashion in the largest professional women’s sport of all sports in the world. It turns out that when someone like Caroline Wozniacki comes back as Caroline Wozniacki and family, she is no longer welcome.
“Since last year all wild cards are the property of the tournaments and the WTA washes its hands of them. The effect? For the tournament in Rome, all the wild cards were given to Italians. I understand promoting your players, but how can you give the right to play in a tournament of this rank to girls who shouldn’t even think about playing in a WTA 1000 tournament?
“Sure we could [have entered qualifying] but Caroline said she didn’t work hard all her life and didn’t achieve that much to start like a junior now. At some point in life there should be respect in a sport in which a person meant something. Caroline is not the type of person who considers qualifying a dishonour. But in the case of Roland Garros, she wanted to see if she was respected. That’s why she didn’t enter qualifying.”
There has already been much criticism of the FFT’s stance, which might be characterised as ‘We’re alright, Jacques’. One of the more egregious cases related to Dominic Thiem, the two-time French Open finalist who has said that he will retire at the end of this year after failing to recover properly from a wrist injury.
On Monday, Thiem managed to come back from a one-set deficit to overcome Franco Agamenone and move into the second round of qualifying. He must win two more rounds to earn a spot in the main draw.
Returning to Wozniacki, Piotr predicted that his daughter would soon retire again. “I will tell you that Caroline will definitely not play next year,” he said. “We have already decided this. Because there’s no point in going through something like that. They don’t take us seriously, so it’s a waste of our efforts.
“We will survive until the end of this season, until the last grand slam tournament, the US Open, and then we will leave it at that. We’ll see what happens with Wimbledon along the way. Before that, Caroline will try to play a tournament, maybe they will let us in. And at Wimbledon, if Caroline does not get a wild card, we will play qualifiers.
“Maybe using Caroline’s example we will be able to understand that it is not easy to decide to start a family during your career? Petra Kvitova, among others, is now pregnant, and in general, other tennis players decide to do so, thinking that if Wozniacki, Kerber or Osaka have given birth and returned, they will do the same. But the truth is that they don’t know what they will return to. For me, it is completely incomprehensible that players who have done something, achieved something, showed character and certainly attracted some fans to this sport can be treated so badly after their return.
“It’s not really about Caroline, she takes it very calmly. And I feel that she will resent me for turning to you and wanting to talk. But I feel like I have to. I believe that the regulations of the WTA and the ambitions of this organisation should be completely revised. I can see up close that there is a lot of work and no one wants to do it. It’s a waste of words.”
The issue of post-maternity comebacks was in the air on Tuesday, as Serena Williams posted an enigmatic message on social media that read “I’m ready to hit some balls again.” However, Williams could have been talking about an exhibition or even a friendly hit in the back garden.
Tennis anti-doping rules state that “retired Players may not compete in any Covered Event or national-level event unless they have (i) given the ITF, the ITIA, and their NADO at least six months’ written notice of their intent to return to competition, and (ii) made themselves available for Testing (including, if requested, by providing whereabouts information) for a period of six months before returning to competition.”
It is understood that Williams has made no such notification.
