Former French Open finalist Sara Errani will start her 2018 season at the ASB Classic in Auckland after receiving a wildcard from the tournament.
The Italian world No.132 was granted the pass two days after Victoria Azarenka announced her withdrawl from the tournament. The former world No.1 has pulled out due to an ongoing custody dispute with her former partner, Billy McKeague. It is unclear as to when Azarenka will return to action.
Errani’s wildcard for Auckland follows a two-month ban she received earlier this year for a doping violation. She tested positive for the prohibited substance letrozole. A drug that can be used to increase body mass and as a masking agent. Errani has maintained her innocence throughout the incident, arguing that she accidentally ingested that drug after it was contaminated with some food her mother was preparing. Errani’s mother is taking Letrozole, which is also used for the treatment of cancer.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) accepted Errani’s explanation, concluding that she was at a ‘light degree’ of fault. Despite the short sentence, the 30-year-old continues to be securitised for her positive test. Reporting the news of Errani’s Auckland appearance, New Zealand news website TVNZ described her as a ‘doping offender’ in their headline.
Doping offender Sara Errani granted wildcard entry to ASB Classichttps://t.co/OkLFjFo42k pic.twitter.com/GnoeNbQSMy
— 1 NEWS – Sport (@1NewsSportNZ) 26 December 2017
Throughout 2017 there has been a heated debate about the ethics of giving wildcard’s to those that have commited doping violations. Maria Sharapova received a series of wildcard entries following her return from a 15-month ban. Prompting criticism from some of her rivals on the tour.
In Errani’s case, tournament director Karl Budge doesn’t believe that it will generate as much controversy.
“The WTA are pretty happy with her playing tennis and so are we,” he said.
“Sara was always looking at coming and playing doubles out here, although we had a conversation with her about four weeks about about giving her a main draw wildcard if we had that opportunity.
“I couldn’t promise anything four weeks ago, but we always knew it was likely we’d offer her one closer to the time.”
Focusing on the positives, Budge points out that Errani is a known name in the tennis circuit. A finalist at the 2012 French Open, she has been ranked as high as 5 in the singles on the WTA rankings and has won nine titles on the tour. Furthermore, she is also a former world No.1 player in the doubles.
“She’s a top 20 player, she’s been a top 10 player for a long time, so she’ll be tough to beat,” Budge said.
“She’ll be unseeded, so where she lands, we don’t know. I wouldn’t like her taking on a Caroline Wozniacki or Agnieszka Radwanska for their first match of the year.
“She’s a very solid player, you don’t get to grand slam finals without being solid. It’s a good edition to the draw at this time of year.”
The ASB Classic will get underway on Monday. World No.3 Caroline Wozniacki will be the top seed.
