Aussie No. 1 Arina Rodionova not surprised by Australian Open wild card snub
The retiring John Millman will also have to earn his way through the qualifying draw at the Melbourne major after selections were finalized.
In June 2022, Arina Rodionova underwent right wrist surgery. By the time she returned in early 2023, Rodionova was ranked outside of the Top 300 and dropped as far down as No. 350 on February 27.
While she was unable to successfully qualify at any of the four majors, Rodionova tabulated a tremendous sum of results on the ITF World Tennis Tour. Capturing seven titles and accumulating 79 wins, she became the No. 1-ranked Australian on the WTA Tour after rising to a career-high world No. 112.
Rodionova opened her 2024 campaign with a pair of strong victories in Brisbane over Martina Trevisan and Sofia Kenin. Despite her body of work over the past 12 months, the 34-year-old was passed over for a main draw wild card at the upcoming Australian Open.
Rodionova took to X (formerly Twitter) with her reaction.
“I wish I could say I am surprised,” she began. “But honestly. 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 couple of days and I am PUMPED for this. LFG.”
Among the women’s wild cards previously announced included 2018 champion Caroline Wozniacki. Four were allocated to home-country hopefuls: Kimberley Birrell, Olivia Gadecki, Taylah Preston and Daria Saville, who also admiradbly returned from a significant injury in June last year after tearing her ACL in September 2022. American McCartney Kessler and Frenchwoman Alize Cornet received their places as part of Tennis Australia’s reciprocal exchange with the FFT and USTA.
John Millman, who is stepping into retirement after the Australian summer swing, was also left off the final main-draw selections. Like Rodionova, the Brisbane native will need to win three qualifying matches to get himself into the 128-player draw.
Jason Kubler and James McCabe joined James Duckworth, Marc Polmans and Adam Walton as Aussie men's recipients.