Wild Cards just hit a nerve

ROLAND-GARROS
Aca-awkward

Everybody takes a deep breath. And another one. And another one. Great, now let’s go into the hot debate around the wild cards attributed or not for the upcoming main draw of Roland-Garros. No, we will not argue about the wild cards for the qualifications: at some point, there are so many tennis hills we’re willing to die on. Also, we’re not going to, either, debate on who wasn’t worthy of getting one wild card but on the system: we’re not getting personal.

WHO GOT THEM:
Let’s start with the lucky few for the main draw who are Alizé Cornet, Fiona Ferro, Elsa Jacquemot, Kristina Mladenovic, Chloé Paquet, Jessika Ponchet (should have been Loïs Boisson but she badly injured her knee this week), Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS), Sachia Vickery (USA), Terence Atmane, Richard Gasquet, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Harold Mayot, Nicolas Moreno De Alboran (USA), Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, Alexandre Müller, Adam Walton (AUS).

The only recipients who aren’t French are the ones included in the agreement between the US and Australian federations.

WHO GOT SNUBBED (ain’t it feeling like the Oscars all over again?!):
The main names who got left out are Dominic Thiem, Venus Williams, Simona Halep, Caroline Wozniacki, Emma Raducanu, Diego Schwartzman.

And it’s clearly the snub of Dominic Thiem that has brought back the whole wild cards debate and put the FFT in a hot seat. The Austrian is set to retire this year and he has been one of the greatest clay court players of his generation. One might have thought that playing two finals at Roland-Garros (2018, 2019) and two semi-finals (2016, 2017) would put you up at the top of the “needs a wild card” list. But nope, nada for the 2020 US Open champion. And that, my friends, didn’t go well at all. At all.

Thiem is 117 in the ranking this week so he will be seen at Roland-Garros, in the qualifications, and I guess in the main draw if there’s another spread of injuries. That would for sure be a relief for many people, including those who denied him the wild card.

Also, letting Simona Halep hit on Tuesday on Chatrier with Cornet but not giving her a wild card, what happened there? Maria Sharapova didn’t get a wild card for Paris when she came back from her doping ban, so it makes sense that the same is applied to Halep. But maybe for the optics, don’t have her train at Roland-Garros either then? Like, do we need more confusion? Halep by the way got injured again on that knee on Wednesday.

WHY IT MATTERS?
Because it makes us all again wonder about the whole system. If someone like Dominic Thiem isn’t an obvious case for a wild card, why are we still exactly doing the whole wild cards system? Also, in Paris since 2003, only four invitations have been given to non-French players.

One always argues that it’s what the national federations lucky enough to have a Grand Slam on home soil always do: using these invitations to help their own players (young or struggling to get back on track), often the younger ones that can get experience and also a nice amount of money with it. But then what is the reasoning for the wild cards given with this agreement between the Australian, American, and French federations? They already have a Grand Slam at home so why the need for more privileges? Oh so their players can be sure to also gain experience and money on other Grand Slam events… Sure, seems…fair? Or not?…

The thing is, without that Thiem snub, nobody would be back out there questioning the whole system so I’d say if you keep these wild cards, maybe read the room better. Also one thing to understand: it’s sometimes easier for a federation to deal with international anger than with its national players and so often coaches and clubs coming after you… Priorities don’t always match on-court logic expectations.

Personal thoughts on it? Grand Slam events are supposed to be the pinnacles of the sport, so you shouldn’t get a pass to get there. As there’s always an exception, a path should be given to top players and/or players who’ve tremendous achievements in these tournaments. And that’s it. France, Australia, and the USA have enough tournaments and enough money to support their players in other ways. Your nationality shouldn’t get you into the main draw of a Grand Slam, your results on the Tour - and not a national play-off or race or whatever - should. Wild cards, I’m sorry the drama is basically written in the name… They ain’t called wild for no reason. So you keep them, you own the sh.t storms that are coming up with.

BUSINESS / MEDIA 
The Federer Challenge, 12 days only

• We all know the RF brand is expensive so no wonder that even Amazon could only get 12 days. Just kidding… On June 20, Amazon’s Prime Video will release the documentary about Roger Federer’s end of career. The name? “FEDERER: Twelve Final Days”. An official trailer can be watched here. Federer has never agreed to open the door to his life off the court or to have his family do it so, even for twelve days, it’s a big deal that Amazon snatched. Asif Kapadia and Joe Sabia direct the film, and we’re promised “unprecedented access”.
  

• Tennis Channel doesn’t have the Federer exclusive but they will still have special Tuesdays. The network, via its T2 channel, announced it will devote, for free, one day a week specifically to women’s tennis: starting on June 11, every Tuesday will be a WTA-only day. An initiative that seems to be echoing the Sports Bra (a bar in Portland) decision to feature only women’s sports. As TSS told you in a previous edition, Women’s top sports could generate more than $1 billion in 2024 so that’s also a nice pie to try to get a bigger share of. In other tennis-airing news, ESPN announced that the US Open men’s final will be presented by NBC for the first time (Sept. 12 at 2 pm).

• Serena Williams, The Host. ESPN announced that Serena Williams, 12-time ESPYs winner, will host her first ESPYs on July 11 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Williams will then be just the fourth woman to host the event, joining Megan Rapinoe, Sue Bird, and Danica Patrick. “This is a dream come true for me, and something I’ve wanted to do for as long as I can remember. It has been a sensational year for sports and an unprecedented one for female athletes. I can’t wait to celebrate everyone onstage in July”, she said in a statement.
  

• ITF, the…content creator? It seems! I mean, I keep telling you tennis is the new content creation playground so maybe you’re all finally going to believe me 😉 The ITF announced on Wednesday that it was launching a new YouTube series documenting a day in the life of future tennis stars. The first episode concerns boys’ world Junior No.1 Joel Schwaerzler (Austria) and the second will feature girls’ world Junior No.1 Renata Jamrichova (Slovakia). “Across our content, we strive to put players at the heart of the story, and this new Day in the Life series is a must-watch for tennis fans. The series gives viewers a chance to get to know some of the next generation of tennis stars and is a unique behind-the-scenes view of what the best juniors in the world put into their development”, said Louise Booth, ITF Executive Director, Digital.

• Everybody gets a streaming bundle! Or so it seems… Comcast is the last one to join the bundle bandwagon as it will now “package its Peacock with rival services Netflix and Apple TV+ in a single bundle, called StreamSaver, to be offered to its customers starting later this month, and at a discounted price compared to the combined cost of purchasing the three separately”, reports Front Office Sports. “The launch of StreamSaver, pricing still to be determined, follows Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery teaming up on a streaming bundle that combines the Disney+, Hulu and Max streaming services. And Disney, Fox Corp., and Warner Bros Discovery have combined for a sports streaming joint venture”, reminds the Hollywood Reporter.

QUESTION OF THE DAY 
Decisions, decisions…

WHAT HAPPENS IN ROME… 
Gauff, serving or not

• “Even though this tournament I want to win, I'm trying to think long-term. I don't want to lose the 120 serve by not going for it”, said Coco Gauff in Rome while addressing her serve struggles again. Qualified for the semi-finals in Rome, she has for now accumulated 41 double faults through four matches, including 15 in her second round against Cristian. We haven’t reached Anna Kournikova’s level by far and, for Gauff, it’s all about owning the work currently done on that shot. It seemed to be paying off in her quarter-final against Qinwen Zheng and, whatever the state of that serve, she’s still going deep in that tournament contrary to Madrid where her serve cost her the match against Madison Keys in the fourth round. “There's definitely technical changes I'm trying to make. It's obviously tough to do in-season and in-tournament.”
  

• Collins keeps the show going. Talk about the player of the year so far whose name isn’t Iga Swiatek. Already crowned in Miami and Charleston, Danielle Collins has now reached the semi-finals in Rome. She beat Victoria Azarenka on Wednesday night (6-4, 6-3), simply stating “I’m going out with a bang”. Collins, who didn’t have a passport until her 20s and has enjoyed every experience her career allowed her to have, is putting the bar high as far as farewell seasons are concerned.
  

• Alejandro Tabilo just won’t stop winning in Rome. He became the first Chilean to reach the semi-finals of a Masters 1000 since Fernando Gonzalez in 2009 after beating Zhang Zhizhen (6-3, 6-4). Well, beating Novak Djokovic in that third round clearly gave him wings. A run that’s even more special for Tabilo as he parted ways with his long-time coach Guillermo Gomez after Madrid.
  

• In the “first” series, props are to be given to Taylor Fritz who, with quarter-finals appearances in Monte-Carlo (2022-23), Madrid, and Rome (2024), became the first American to reach the QF at three different ATP Masters 1000 events on clay, since the format's introduction in 1990.

MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO 
Djokovic tested for concussion

It was reported that Novak Djokovic had undergone head scans following the bottle accident in Rome. And on Wednesday, Serbian media reported that the World No. received the green light from the doctors. It could mean that Djokovic can now go back to being only worried about his game and not about a possible way more serious situation.

Andy Roddick shocked the tennis world when announcing on his podcast, Served, with Andy Roddick, that he had been battling skin cancer several times through the years. He used his platform, as coach Brad Gilbert has been doing for years, to warn players against the risk of not applying sunscreen regularly.

French player Alexandre Müller reached the fourth round in Rome while coming from the qualifications. And yet it’s not his biggest achievement as the simple fact that he’s playing is his biggest win. He told L’Equipe how he has to manage both Crohn's disease and his opponents.

LATEST NEWS 
Muzz did what now?

• Andy Murray is rarely where you’re expecting him. Seeing tennis players switch racquets is not unusual, but seeing a player doing it despite being supposed to retire in a few months is way more of an “ok, weird but interesting” vibe. Murray leaving Head after playing with their racquets for his whole career adds another layer to the wow factor. But yes he could so yes he did. Bye-bye, Head, and hello Yonex! It went well in Bordeaux’s Challenger on Wednesday as he won his first match since the ankle injury sustained in Miami.
  

• Carlos Alcaraz off to Roland-Garros. Marca reports that the Spaniard’s right arm injury has been evolving favorably, so the Wimbledon champion who reached the semi-finals in Paris last year, will head to Paris next Wednesday.

PLAY HARD, TRAIN HARD, DRESS THE PART 
Apparently, it’s ON…

On is…on. The Roger Federer-backed company is having quite the spring so far as it hit its higher profits on Tuesday with $558 million in Q1 (including a 22% increase in North America, says Boardroom). On’s shares surged 18% on Tuesday when it was announced. And so the brand can grow its pack: they’ve recently signed Italian player Flavio Cobolli and three junior players, Morocco’s Reda Bennani, Germany’s Julia Stusek, and South Korea’s Yeri Hong. You need more Roger Federer news? Well, he’s got a collection out with JW Anderson for Uniqlo if you’re up for it.

EDITOR’S PICKS 

WATCH: Bridgerton is back so are you really picking something else to watch on Netflix? Well, I do, but I’m here to serve you all so here’s the reminder that the new season is out… 😉 Also, just do it for the legend that is Shonda Rhimes maybe.

READ: Because WNBA star A’ja Wilson finally got that shoe deal, go have a look at her best-selling book, “Dear Black Girls: Ho To Be True To You”

LISTEN TO: I’m still on that Young Royals official playlist on Spotify, it’s just so good.