Andreas Seppi has claimed that he was told he would not be given a wildcard for two ATP 250 events in Italy because it would have been a waste.
The 38-year-old has hit out at the Italian Tennis Federation (FIT) who reportedly told Seppi that they saw no point in handing a wildcard to the player because he is retiring. Seppi, who has been ranked as high as 18th in the world, was hoping to play at either the Florence Open or this week’s Napoli Open as part of his farewell Tour.
Frustrated with the outcome, Seppi posted a statement on Instagram about the FIT’s decision. He had tried to qualify for the main draw of the Firenze Open in Florence but lost in the first round to Sweden’s Mikhail Ymer.
“I would have loved to play in the Florence or Naples tournament for my farewell to professional tennis, but unfortunately the Italian Tennis Federation did not allow me to, saying that ‘giving a wild card to a retiring player would have been a waste’”, he wrote on Instagram.
During his career, the Italian has won three ATP titles and has played in 66 consecutive Grand Slam main draws, the third-longest streak of all-time on the ATP Tour. He has also played in 30 Davis Cup ties for his country between 2004-2019. Against top 10 opposition, he has a won-loss record of 10-83. Overall, He has won 386 matches on the ATP Tour.
The FIT opted instead to hand wildcard’s to mainly up-and-coming Italian players such as 21-year-old Francesco Passaro (No.124) and 19-year-old Luca Nardi (No.130). Italy currently has 20 players in the world’s top 200 with half of those being under the age of 21.
Reacting to the decision, Australian world No.135 John Millman described the move as ‘pretty pathetic’ in a post on social media.
“Andreas Seppi not getting a wildcard into a tour event in Italy to end his career is a joke. The guy has had a brilliant career, represented his country at Davis Cups and Olympic Games and the Italian Federation can’t give a WC? Pretty pathetic,” Millman tweeted.
Seppi will play his final competitive match at the Sparkassen ATP Challenger later this month which will be held in the Italian town of Ortisei.
