Wildcards denied: excitement about Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi will end his career next week. Since he did not receive a wildcard for the tournament in Florence or for the event in Naples, the South Tyrolean will say goodbye to tennis at Challenger level.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Oct 17, 2022, 04:33 pm
Andreas Seppi had probably imagined the end of his career differently: Originally, the 38-year-old wanted to hang up his racket at an ATP event in his home country of Italy, but the South Tyrolean did not receive a wildcard for either the tournament in Florence or the event in Naples . And will be making his last appearance as a professional tennis player at the Challenger event in Ortisei in Val Gardena next week.
"I would have liked to play in the tournament in Florence or Naples to say goodbye to professional tennis, but unfortunately the Italian Tennis Federation didn't allow me to do so. According to them, it would have been "a waste to give a wild card to a player who quits" , Seppi did not spare criticism in an Instagram story.
Millman supports Seppi
Seppi received support from John Millman, among others, who described the Italian Tennis Federation's decision as a "joke". "The man has had a brilliant career, represented his country at Davis Cups and Olympics and the Italian FA can't give a wildcard? Pretty pathetic," wrote the Australian.
Seppi won three titles in his career and reached a career high of 18th in the world rankings. The Italian celebrated his greatest victory in 2015 at the Australian Open, when he surprisingly knocked Roger Federer out of the tournament in the third round. In the past few months, the veteran has always had to struggle with injuries, especially the hip and shoulder causing him major problems.