Destanee Aiava revealed her shock when she got the call that she was going to be the Australian reciprocal wildcard for Roland Garros.
The world number 157 will make her main draw debut in Paris having featured in qualifying at last year’s event.
So far Aiava has not played any clay court events this year as she has been playing hard court events on hard courts to build up her ranking.
Speaking on a recent podcast Aiava revealed the shock she received when she got the call from Sam Stosur saying she would be a wildcard at Roland Garros, “I’m so happy, honestly. I was not expecting it at all,” Aiava told the sit-down podcast.
“I literally had just lost my match last week; it was a really tight match and I was crying. And I was just like lying down, you know, wallowing in my sadness, and then I got a call from Sam [Stosur], and I was like, ‘oh, why is she calling me?’.
“She said, ‘I hope this cheers you up, to offer you the French wildcard’. And I was like, excuse me? I had to look around to make sure this was real life. I was just really happy, I was over the moon. Honestly, it’s so special and I don’t think it’s sunk in yet, but I’m training on the clay and trying to prepare as best I can.
“There’s always something good around the corner, I guess, in this sport.”
The men’s reciprocal wildcard went to Tristan Schoolkate who is having a really good season which includes taking a set off Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open.
Roland Garros begins on Sunday 25th of May.
