The Albany Gazette - Wildcard snub surprises Queen's champion Maria

The German mother of two became the oldest winner of a WTA 500 title at the age of 37 when she defeated Amanda Anisimova in last year's final as women's tennis returned to London club Queen's for the first time since 1973.

Nevertheless, Maria missed out on a wildcard for the grass-court tournament, a warm-up event for Wimbledon, after all four went to British players but she has made it through to the main draw.

"I think with all the respect of what I did last year, I was pretty sure to get a wild card or I was hoping to get a wildcard," Maria told reporters having beaten Briton Lily Miyazaki and Uzkbek Kamilla Rakhimova to reach the first round.

"It was not, like, five years ago, it was last year and especially this tournament and to come back like a champion, I hoped and I thought I would get a wildcard.

"I was surprised when I got the message from (tournament director) Laura Robson saying all the wild cards would go to the British players, which I understand of course but you know as a champion, it's tough for me (to accept)."

Maria added her two daughters were a particular inspiration before she plays Greek player Maria Sakkari in the opening round on Tuesday.

"Yesterday I wanted to win also for my girls to stay as long as possible because they really love to be here and they love the tournament," she said.

"A lot of members here (Queen's) came to me and said, 'really we don't understand why you didn't get the wildcard', so it was super nice," she added.

On court, Romania's Jaqueline Cristian defeated Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen 6-4, 7-6 (4), as the Chinese player suffered an early exit following her run to last year's semi-finals at Queen's.

(K.Lee--TAG)