Maria holds all the cards
THE All England Club have given their clearest indication yet that Maria Sharapova will be given a wild-card entry into the main draw at Wimbledon this summer if she does not get the ranking points to qualify by right. But Ilie Nastase will not be receiving a Royal Box invitation and will be ejected if spotted in the grounds during the tournament, after the comments he made at the Fed Cup match between Great Britain and Romania. Tim Henman will chair the committee to make a final decision on Sharapova – who returned last week from a 15-month drugs ban – on June 20. But the criteria outlined by club chairman Philip Brook indicated that a former champion such as 2004 winner Sharapova is precisely why the wild-card system is in place.
“There are a number of factors taken into account, which historically include looking at British players who we thing might add interest,” he said. “If someone had a very strong playing record here at Wimbledon, that would be a factor in our consideration as well.”
But Sharapova must take nothing for granted. As well as announcing that the prize for both men’s and women’s singles champions will rise 10 per cent to £2.2million this year, the All England Club used their annual conference to outline improvements to facilities at Roehampton for what will be the first ticketed qualifying event in the tournament’s history. The club could decide to give Sharapova a wild card for only the qualifying event and already concerns have been expressed by members of her team that the public interest would make such a stance unmanageable. However, the capacity will initially be set at 1,000, with improved conditions for both media and fans, and the club claim Sharapova being “too big” to take part would not be an issue. Nevertheless, they were at pains to point out the timing of the developments is coincidental and merely a response to being oversubscribed last year.
One person who will definitely not be welcome is former finalist Nastase, whose sexist and racist comments last month have led to an ITF ban from tennis activity. While Grand Slam events do not fall under the jurisdiction of that decision, Lewis said: “If he was suspended and we noticed him [coming into the grounds], he would be stopped.”
Brook went further and added: “His actions were not very good and we condemn them. He’s not going to receive an invitation to the Royal Box this year.”
Nastase responded by saying: “If they are going to be so smallminded about it, there’s nothing I can do. What does Wimbledon have to do with what I said about Serena Williams?
“It must mean we Romanians are morons otherwise I don’t understand it.”