After not receiving wild card, Mathieu winning in qualies

May 25, 2017
Social

Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova withdraws from 2025 Australian Open due to back injury

By Baseline Staff Jan 05, 2025
Social

As Denis Kudla ends career at United Cup, Frances Tiafoe thanks him for 'giving me game and support'

By Baseline Staff Jan 05, 2025
The Business of Tennis

Aryna Sabalenka departs IMG for Naomi Osaka's EVOLVE agency: "A multi-faceted icon with limitless potential"

By Matt Fitzgerald Jan 04, 2025
Social

Australia’s Destanee Aiava slams “weird and hostile” United Cup team experience: a “2 out of 10”

By Ed McGrogan Jan 03, 2025
Social

Longform Love: Stefanos Tsitsipas, Paula Badosa release Iceland vacation vlog on Tennis Channel

By Ed McGrogan Jan 03, 2025
Pop Culture

Billie Jean King thrilled by 'honor' of serving as grand marshal for 136th annual Rose Parade

By Baseline Staff Jan 02, 2025
Style Points

"New year, new look": Lorenzo Musetti shows off mega haircut and Asics collab in 2025 debut

By Baseline Staff Jan 02, 2025
Pop Culture

Novak Djokovic, now 20-0 against Gael Monfils, has seen your Pikachu theories

By Baseline Staff Jan 02, 2025
Social

Iga Swiatek, Hubert Hurkacz and Team Poland go for a swim in Sydney

By Liya Davidov Jan 01, 2025

After not receiving wild card, Mathieu winning in qualies

The 35-year-old is one win away from a main draw spot in Paris.

Published May 25, 2017

Paul-Henri Mathieu has been a relatively steady fixture on the ATP World Tour for the last 15 years. Since 2002, the 35-year-old Frenchman has finished inside the Top 100 on 12 occasions, reaching as high as No. 12 in 2008 and advancing to the fourth round of Wimbledon, Roland Garros and the Australian Open twice each.

As the world No. 119 prepares to say farewell to tennis, he requested a main draw wild card into his final French Open.

However, the French Tennis Federation denied his request, and Mathieu, as you might expect, was not pleased:

Advertising

“Of course, a wild card is not a right,” Mathieu wrote on Twitter. “But I totally disagree with the manner and confusing explanations given.”

French Tennis Federation President Bernard Guidicelli announced that another French veteran, Julien Benneteau, would receive a main draw wild card.

“Julien is an example of commitment and he played Davis Cup this year,” Guidicelli said. Mathieu hasn't appeared in a Davis Cup tie since 2008, while the world No. 98-ranked Benneteau helped France reach the semifinals this year.

This week, Mathieu has had to battle through qualifying at Roland Garros as the No. 16 seed. Despite a hiccup in his opening match, Mathieu has made it through to the final round of qualifying.

If the Frenchman wins one more match (against American Denis Kudla on Friday), the FFT’s decision will no longer matter: he will have earned a final chance to perform in front of a Slam home crowd.

“The crowd was great,” Mathieu told RolandGarros.com after beating Alejandro Gonzalez in the second round, winning nine of the last 10 games. “They helped me a lot.”

· Get Tennis Channel Plus for Roland Garros to watch 200 live matches from up to five courts, starting with the Qualifying Rounds.

· Watch the Best of Roland Garros 2016 on-demand at any time

· Get Tennis Channel Plus for all of Roland Garros, as well as 650+ live events all year long

· Tennis Channel Plus is available on any streaming device, on mobile, always on the GO (desktop, iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire)
· Subscribe today at BuyTCPlus.com

PLUS: Watch the Racquet Bracket Show on Tennis Channel this Friday at 9 PM ET—then play the Racquet Bracket game for the men's and women's draws.