Australia’s No 1 Arina Rodionova overlooked for home grand slam wildcard

Australia’s top-ranked women’s tennis player Arina Rodionova is not surprised, just motivated, after being contentiously overlooked for a wildcard into her home grand slam.

The Victorian veteran this week pleaded with Australian Open organisers not to forget her as the 34-year-old fell one win short at the Brisbane International of cracking the world’s top 100 for the first time.

But Rodionova was on Friday snubbed in favour of former top-20 star Daria Saville, who was awarded Tennis Australia’s final discretionary wildcard into the season’s first grand slam which starts on Sunday week.

The Australian right-hander has moved up to a career-best No 105, but was No 112 at the time of the Australian Open main draw cut-off.

To feature in the Open main draw she will have to win three matches once qualifying begins on Monday.

“I wish I could say I am surprised. But honestly,” Rodionova posted on social media on Friday.

“The satisfaction of achieving it all absolutely on your own, despite all this stuff … it is worth it.

“I will see you guys at AO qualies in [a] couple of days and I am pumped for this.”

Rodionova dominated the lower-level ITF Tour in 2023, winning 78 matches on her way to seven titles as her ranking surged from No 302 to the brink of the top 100.

She carried that form into Brisbane – her first WTA event in nearly two years – where she beat recent top-20 talent Martina Trevisan and former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.

“If it was up to me, I would give it [Open wildcard] to myself but there’s other people involved,” Rodionova said after reaching the third round in Brisbane.

“Hopefully they like the way I’m playing this week.

“I’ve done all the hard work, I put myself in the best position and there’s nothing else I could have done to get myself closer.”

Saville, who is on the comeback trail from a serious knee injury, reached the fourth round at the Australian Open in 2016 and 2017.

Since returning to the tour last June, the former junior world No 1 has improved her ranking from a low of 322nd to her current position of 209th.

Saville began the year with a strong opening-round win in Brisbane before bowing out in three tight sets to 11th seed Anastasia Potapova.

The 29-year-old joins former world No 1 and 2018 AO champion Caroline Wozniacki, and Australians Kim Birrell, Olivia Gadecki and Taylah Preston among the women’s wildcard recipients.

As well as having to attempt to qualify, Rodionova will suffer the financial blow of missing out on the guaranteed $120,000 for first-round losers at Melbourne Park.

Meanwhile, two-time Australian Open semi-finalist Madison Keys announced her withdrawal from the event due to a shoulder injury. World No 104 Sara Errani will replace her.

Australians Jason Kubler and James McCabe received men’s wildcards on Friday.

Kubler excelled in Brisbane, where he beat former AO semi-finalist Aslan Karatsev to reach the round of 16 before falling to Rafael Nadal.

Ranked world No 102 in singles, Kubler is the reigning Australian Open men’s doubles champion alongside compatriot Rinky Hijikata.

McCabe, a 20-year-old Sydneysider who improved his ranking by more than 100 places in 2023, will make his grand slam debut.

The world No 272 came extremely close to upsetting Dominic Thiem in the opening round of Brisbane qualifying before the former world No 3 and 2020 US Open champion recovered from multiple match points down to win in three sets.