Lois Boisson & Petra Kvitova Wimbledon wildcard decisions backed by Grand Slam winner: ‘Whoever they want’
Wimbledon’s decision not to award French Open star Lois Boisson a wildcard has been defended by doubles great John Fitzgerald amid a wave of criticism.
Boisson was the surprise star of this year’s action at Roland Garros, with the 22-year-old defying the odds to reach the semi-final of the event.
In her Grand Slam debut, the Frenchwoman stunned 24th seed Elise Mertens in round one, before back-to-back top-10 wins over third seed Jessica Pegula in round four and sixth seed Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-final.
Ranked 361st heading into the tournament, Boisson soared to a new career-high of world No 65 after her breakthrough run, and is currently the world No 67.
That ranking will be enough for her to automatically qualify for the US Open main draw later in the summer, but it came too late to enter Wimbledon.
Boisson’s protected ranking is enough for her to enter qualifying, though many predicted she would be awarded a wildcard by the All England Club.
However, the Frenchwoman’s name was a notable admission when the wildcard list was released earlier this week, with seven of the eight women handed a main-draw berth all from the UK.
The only non-British player handed a wildcard across either the women’s or men’s singles draw was Petra Kvitova, who triumphed at the event in 2011 and 2014.
Former world No 2 Kvitova has since confirmed that it will be her final appearance at the tournament, with the Czech set to retire following the US Open in August.
Speaking on the Sit-Down Podcast, former doubles No 1 and nine-time major champion claimed that Wimbledon had to “include” Kvitova among the wildcards.
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He said: “The Czech representative on the women’s side is a two-time Wimbledon champion, right?
“She’s certainly a Wimbledon champion, she’s danced the waltz after the win – you have to include her, surely.”
However, when pressed further about the decision not to include Boisson among the wildcards, the Australian – a men’s and mixed doubles champion at SW19 – defended the tournament.
“It’s Wimbledon’s prerogative, they can pick whoever they want,” added Fitzgerald. “The points at Roland Garros have gone on too late for the cut-off at Wimbledon, right?
“The cut-off is before the points come on at Roland Garros. She’ll be alright next year.”
Boisson has not been in action since her historic run at the French Open, where she became the first wildcard to reach the semi-final of the women’s singles event.
The new French No 1 will have to return to action next week if she wants to play at Wimbledon, with main draw qualifying starting on June 23rd in Roehampton.
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