Stan Wawrinka left out as five wildcards awarded for Madrid Masters
Stan Wawrinka will need to go through qualifying if he wants to play in the Madrid Open main draw this year. Wawrinka is set to retire from tennis this season, ending a 24-year career on the ATP Tour.
Photo by Shi Tang/Getty Images Stan Wawrinka will need to go through qualifying if he wants to play in the Madrid Open main draw this year. Wawrinka is set to retire from tennis this season, ending a 24-year career on the ATP Tour. He’s been given wildcards into five events during his farewell season, with the most recent one coming at the Monte Carlo Masters.
But Madrid has chosen not to offer him one, handing their five spots out to other players instead. Stan Wawrinka faces qualifying route to Madrid Open after wildcards announced Photo by Shi Tang/Getty Images The Madrid Open has ties to IMG, which owned the tournament until last year before selling it to MARI, a company that represents many players on tour. Because of this, the Madrid Open often hands out wildcards to IMG-affiliated players rather than focusing solely on local talent.
This year’s men’s singles wildcards have gone to Pablo Carreno Busta, Federico Cina, Rafael Jodar, Martin Landaluce and Gael Monfils. Monfils is also in his final season before retirement. Wawrinka is entered into the Madrid Open but will have to come through qualifying as he’s 16th on the alternate list.
However, there’s a chance he might not play at all after hinting at a possible skip following his exit from Monte Carlo. On the women’s side, only two Spanish players received wildcards: Paula Badosa and Carlota Martinez Cirez. The remaining spots went to Venus Williams, Ajla Tomljanovic, Ashlyn Krueger, Emiliana Arango, Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva and Robin Montgomery.