Halep didn’t make the initial Wimbledon wildcard list.
Former world No. 1 Simona Halep missed out on a Wimbledon main draw wildcard on today’s initial wildcard list announced by The Championships and her doping ban may be to blame for that since four Grand Slam champions received a wildcard but not the Romanian.
After Halep wasn’t granted a main draw wildcard into the French Open, there was a lot of controversy surrounding that decision since the 32-year-old Romanian won the title there in 2018 and some felt that she absolutely deserved to be given a main draw wildcard there. But after 2018 French Open champion Halep didn’t even receive a qualifying wildcard, some felt the French Open organizers deliberately declined to give the two-time Grand Slam champion a wildcard.
Then, the focus switched on Wimbledon and what would they do in the Halep case. And today, Wimbledon handed out seven out of eight wildcards for the women’s singles event. Four Grand Slam champions – Caroline Wozniacki, Naomi Osaka, Emma Raducanu and Angelique Kerber all made the list – but not two-time Grand Slam champion Halep.
Since Wimbledon was evidently looking to reward past Slam champions and well-respected names, Halep not being granted a wildcard only points at one thing – her doping ban probably impacted the decision made by the Wimbledon committee decision.
What Wimbledon officials said about the prospect of Halep getting a wildcard?
“Obviously that’s a hypothetical question. Our wildcard committee meet and make those decisions, they haven’t met. They will be making an announcement about the wildcard decisions on the 19th of June so I wouldn’t want to pre-judge a consideration of the wildcard committee,” Sally Bolton, Chief Executive Officer at The All England Club, said after the French Open concluded.
Meanwhile, Deborah Jevans, Chair at The All England Club said: “Once a player has served any drugs ban, they’re then free to compete in the circuit and as such the wildcard committee would consider that and their performance when considering that wildcard. As Sally said, the wildcard committee will meet and make that determination.”
Since there is still one wildcard left, there is still a chance Halep gets to play at The Championships. But Halep not making the initial wildcard list doesn’t look promising for the Romanian’s chances of getting into Wimbledon.