The Australian top seed accused Tennis Australia of ignoring her efforts and treating her with disrespect after her defeat in the first round of qualifying at Melbourne Park.
Arina Rodionova has been overlooked for a wildcard into the main draw of the Australian Open despite becoming the country's top-ranked player after a sparkling 2023 in which she won 79 matches and seven ITF titles to reach the No. 1 ranking. 105 in the world.
The 34-year-old, who made headlines after defeating former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin at the Brisbane International last week, was forced to qualify after lower seed Daria Saville was issued a wildcard, along with a trio of young Australians and several Of players. Players abroad.
Rodionova said she struggled to “find her game” after an emotional week following the decision, losing in straight sets 3-6, 3-6 to world No. 1 France. 145 for Yuliya Gangan on Tuesday.
She double-faulted six times and only hit 55 percent of her first serves in windy conditions at Kia Arena.
Rodionova spoke of a decade of complaints against the Australian Tennis Association, to which she switched allegiance in 2014 after moving to Melbourne from Russia with her family.
“The only regret I have today is that I think I've given Tennis Australia something to celebrate. I think they're very happy with my result today, which makes me upset,” she said.
“I did everything I could to deserve (the wild card)… it definitely (seems personal).” It started years and years ago, and there were a lot of incidents that happened between me and the officials.
“It's very clear to me that I'm not popular, and that's not just clear to me, it's clear to every Australian tennis player.”
His teammate John Millman, who participated in the singles qualifiers, said he was “puzzled” by the decision to ignore Rodionova, who arrived in Melbourne exhausted and lost in straight sets 3-6, 3-6 to the French world No. 2. 145 for Yuliya Gangan on Tuesday.
“You can't be the number one Australian player in the women's tennis rankings and be overlooked… I'm a bit puzzled,” Millman told ABC Tennis Radio.
“It eventually came down to Arina and Dasha (Saville). I don't think it should have come to this because they should have been the first two women to get a wild card.
“She (Rodionova) went out there and showed an incredible appetite to work hard and win matches, and she did it the hard way.”
Rodionova said she did not have any negative feelings towards Savile, as she claimed that the Australian Tennis Association knew months ago that it would not issue her a wild card, but she kept the decision secret until last Friday.
“I didn't really have a problem with them not giving me the award, I had a bigger problem with (how) they left it for so long and pretended they were looking at the results in Brisbane,” she said.
“Maybe the decision was made before that they didn't want to give me this decision, and they should have announced it before because it brought unnecessary pressure on myself, as well as on Dasha… She was thinking about it too.
“It's just disrespectful towards the players because I found out on Friday night and I had to play in two days.”
Rodionova said she will take a short break before traveling to Asia, where she is trying to enter the world's top 100 companies for the first time.
She will become the oldest top 100 player to make her debut in WTA Tour history if she can bring her 2023 form to the top-tier circuit this year.
Tournament president Craig Tiley said the distribution of wildcards should reflect how the Australian Open was “the Grand Slam of the Asia-Pacific region”.
“There are a lot of things to take into account: age, level, how many games they have played and what they have done over the last 12 months, who they are comparing to,” Tiley said on Monday.
“We have also given wildcards to a very exciting young player from China in Jerry Zhang, who did a fantastic job in Hong Kong, beating Frances Tiafoe.
“On the women’s side, (we have) Mai Hontama from Japan, who is also a 24-year-old.
“Then of course we exchange with the American and French (tennis federations), and we have some young players.”
Queensland teenager Melissa Ercan produced a stunning escape in her first ever Australian Open qualifier against British rival Yuriko Miyazaki, but she will go into the second round under a cloud of fitness.
The 18-year-old Turkish-born player collapsed due to severe cramps in her legs during the second set when she led 6-4, 4-1, and was asked to consider withdrawing before she continued playing stubbornly.
Ercan struggled to move in the next three games and Miyazaki brought the tie back to 4-4, but the Australian Open newcomer powered her way through with a strong serve to win the second set tiebreaker 7-5 and advance to the next round.
Australian wildcard Dane Sweeney also scored a victory in the first round after defeating Italian Matteo Gigante in straight sets, while late player Li Tu lost his attempt to qualify with a score of 7-6 (13-11), 7-6 (7-4). . Losing to German Joris De Loor.
John Millman and 2023 Newcombe Medal nominee Storm Hunter are among the Australians who will begin their qualifying campaigns on Wednesday after their matches were postponed due to wet weather on Monday.
Originally published as Arina Rodionova loses first round qualifier at Australian Open
