Madrid’s controversial wild card and its little attachment to Spanish players | Relief

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In the first game from Nadal’s match The thing was quite clear. The boy in front of me, tall and young, dedicated himself to throwing the ball to those places where the point goes up to the opponent’s scoreboard. Darwin Blanch has a future, we will have to see if it is really bright, but in the present he was in the Madrid headquarters like an Inuit in the desert. Nadal was elegant afterwards, emphasizing very, very much that he is a value for the future, but that he is not present in the present.

It shouldn’t be surprising either, because in that meritocracy that is tennis the boy is ranked number 1,028 in the world. If you do the exercise go to the ATP website To look for him in the ranking, they will not find him, because the published list does not go beyond 700. Of course, the normal thing is that this boy was playing Futures, satellite tournaments and not on the center court of one of the best tournaments in the world. The reason was a Wild Card, one of those invitations that championships have to fill out the table with some players who want to.

Who each tournament invites for those places is absolutely discretionary – the rest are awarded by ranking – and this is demonstrated by the Madrid Open, which on this occasion in the men’s draw has brought, in addition to Blanch, Jerry Shang, Joao Fonseca , Zizou Bergs and Martín Landaluce. Only the last one is Spanish, and this is relevant, because what is usual in tournaments is the complete opposite of thisthat they fill the table with local players, either to give them a new opportunity or, in another case, players who have been important and have fallen due to any circumstance so that they can avoid playing the qualifiers and enjoy the tournament.

Two years ago Spanish players like Fernando Verdasco signed a letter in which they complained about the little attention that the organization pays to their origin. “We find it surprising, as well as very frustrating, that the biggest tennis event in Spain shows such little (or no) support for Spanish tennis players. with the invitations granted, especially in the main draws,” they pointed out in a harsh letter. Paula Badosa supported them, remembering that she had achieved an excellent result in Madrid the previous time with an invitation and understanding that this is the way in which must do.

Roberto Bautista said something similar this weekwho has entered the draw after a previous one in which he had to face Albert Ramos – in fact he lost, he entered the main draw to replace an injury – and who also seems angry with the way of distributing invitations by the organization of the tournament.

“The truth is that I expected to have an invitation, but hey, I have always been in a privileged position, listening to my colleagues complaining. I understand that the tournament is owned by IMG and favors its clients, I understand that they look out for their own, but I do not agree that this tournament has huge amounts of money from sponsors and Spanish institutions and that this is of no use.. That doesn’t happen anywhere in the world, in any country, in any of the tournaments I play in that we see something like that. This only happens here,” said the tennis player from Castellón.

Bautista is one of the most typical cases in the world of granting an invitation, since last year he had an accident with the horse that caused him to lose the ranking and he is now returning to feeling like a tennis player. It is common for players with that career to see help. In fact, the Madrid Open itself was going to do it this year with Wozniacki, Halep on Nishikori, although the last two had to decline the invitation for physical reasons. Nor would it have been surprising if they invited Pablo Martínez Portero, a Spanish player, still young, finalist in Estoril and 55th in the world, but they did not see it convenient.

The line of other tournaments

At the tournament they explain that in reality there is a sensitivity towards the Spanish. “Wildcards are awarded at the discretion of the tournament, and We take into account the requests of local players, promising players and players returning after a time away from tennis. Having a strong representation of Spanish players is important for us and this year we have eight local players in the men’s and women’s draw,” explains a tournament spokesperson.

But they also remember that this event has a global outlook, it is one of the great tournaments in the world and it operates as such. “As an ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 event, players of international interest are very importantas we seek to attract fans to Madrid and show everything it has to offer on the world stage through our global broadcast,” they highlight.

The most constant accusation is that, since 2021, when the tournament was acquired by the multinational IMG, the criteria for granting invitations is very business-like, always related to the company, which in addition to organizing championships represents players and It has academies, so showing them to the world in the best places is a temptation that, their critics say, they cannot resist.. In the case of Blanch, who was also in Miami, she is part of the consortium. Landaluce has repeated the invitation this season and in both editions he lost in the first round, although in his case he is a Spaniard with great projection.

To put it into perspective, the next big tournament on the calendar is Rome. This event is organized by the Italian tennis federation, so the incentive to get as many transalpine players as possible into the draw is maximum. This year’s are Berrettini, Fognini, Gigante, Zeppieri and Vavassori. The names do not deceive, the federation has done what it is supposed to do, which is to include as many as possible.

The same thing will happen at Roland Garros. In fact, three years ago in Madrid, Lucas Pouille, a Frenchman, was invited, and Verdasco commented that he was happy for his friend, but that he could not imagine that he would ever be invited to Roland Garros. Last year there were six WCs for the main draw and nine more for qualification, and all fifteen were for French players.

It is true that both Paris and Rome are peculiar tournaments, since they belong to organizations whose central motive is the promotion of their own players. IMG, in some way, does the same with theirs although, perhaps, in Blanch’s case they went a little overboard. EThe 16-year-old boy was not up to the performance required in a tournament of this category.