Francesca Schiavone is sad about not having the chance to properly say goodbye to her fans in Rome. The Italian took to Facebook today to let fans know that she had been granted a wild card into the qualifying draw at next week’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia, but she will be taking a pass in order to train in Florida.
The Italian left the following message on Instagram as well:
“Guys, I have something to tell you. In half-an-hour you will probably know it too, but I want to be the first one. I’ve been just told that I got into the qualifiers for Rome. I should play tomorrow. But I’m here…and if I left now I would not be in the physical condition to play.
This really upsets me, because I really wanted to be there. I wanted to say goodbye to my people, to you. I didn’t polemicize in the past few days and I don’t want to start now. I let the others talk, now it’s my turn to talk and I wanted to do it from here.
The season is not over yet. I will continue to tell you about my life in the next few days and months. Meanwhile I send you my warmest wishes, right from my heart.”
Much has been made of the fact that Maria Sharapova has been granted a wild card into the main draw at Rome, while Schiavone, an Italian and a former Grand Slam champion who made 13 career appearances in Rome and reached the quarterfinals three times, did not.
Without saying anything about Sharapova, the fact that Schiavone has not been given a wild card to her home tournament after all she has done for Italian tennis is in very poor taste. Schiavone will be missed next week at Rome, but we can look forward to seeing her on her beloved terre battue in Paris later in May. She’s already on the acceptance list there.