Australia’s prime ranked lady has accused Tennis Australia of ignoring her efforts and treating her with disrespect after she was crushed within the first spherical of qualifying at Melbourne Park.

Arina Rodionova was ignored for a wildcard into the Australian Open important draw regardless of turning into the nation’s highest ranked participant after a scintillating 2023 through which she received 79 matches and 7 ITF titles to achieve no. 105 on the planet.

The 34-year-old, who made headlines after she beat former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin within the Brisbane International final week, was pressured into qualifying as lower-ranked Daria Saville was issued a wildcard along with a trio of young Australian prospects and several overseas players.

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Rodionova stated she struggled to “find her game” after an emotional week following the choice and misplaced in straight units 3-6, 3-6 to French world no. 145 Leolia Jeanjean on Tuesday.

She double-faulted six instances and solely landed 55 per cent of her first serves in windy situations on Kia Arena.

Rodionova detailed a decade’s value of grievances towards Tennis Australia, to whom she switched allegiance in 2014 after relocating to Melbourne from Russia along with her household.

“The only regret I have from today is I think I gave Tennis Australia something to celebrate … I think they’re very pleased with my result today, and that’s what makes me upset,” she stated.

“I did everything I could to possibly deserve (a wildcard) … absolutely (it feels personal). It started years and years ago, and there were so many incidents that happened between myself and people in charge.

“It is very clear to me that I am not liked, and it’s not just clear to me, it’s clear to every single Australian tennis player.”

Fellow singles qualifying entrant John Millman stated he was “baffled” by the choice to disregard Rodionova, who arrived at Melbourne exhausted and misplaced in straight units 3-6, 3-6 to French world no. 145 Leolia Jeanjean on Tuesday.

“You can’t be Australia’s top ranked player in female tennis and be overlooked … I am a bit baffled,” Millman instructed the ABC Tennis podcast.

“It came down in the end to Arina and Dasha (Saville). I don’t think it should’ve even come down to that because they should’ve been the first two ladies that were given a wildcard.

“ (Rodionova) has gone out there and shown an unbelievable appetite for hard work and winning matches, and she’s done it the hard way.”

Rodionova stated she had no arduous emotions in direction of Saville as she claimed Tennis Australia had identified months prematurely it could not be issuing her a wildcard however saved the choice secret till final Friday.

“I didn’t really have an issue with them not giving it to me, I had more of an issue with (how) they left it for so long and they pretended they were looking at the results in Brisbane,” she stated.

“The decision was probably made before that they didn’t want to give it to me, and they should’ve announced it way before because it just brought such unnecessary stress to myself, also to Dasha … she was also thinking about it.

“It’s just disrespectful towards players because I found out Friday evening and had to play in two days.”

Rodionova stated she would take a brief break earlier than travelling to Asia as she tries to crack the world prime 100 for the primary time.

She will develop into the oldest prime 100 debutant in WTA tour historical past if she will be able to deliver her 2023 kind onto the first-tier circuit this yr.

Tournament boss Craig Tiley stated the wildcard distributions needed to mirror how the Australian Open was “the grand slam of the Asia Pacific”.

“There’s lots of things that go into consideration: the age, the form coming in, how many matches they’ve played and what they’ve done over the last 12 months, who they compare to,” Tiley stated on Monday.

“We also gave wildcards to a very exciting young player from China in Jerry Shang, who did a great job in Hong Kong, beating Frances Tiafoe.

“On the women’s side, (we have) Mai Hontama from Japan, also young, a 24-year-old.

“Then of course we do an exchange with the US and the French (tennis bodies), and we’ve got some young players.”

Queensland teenager Melisa Ercan produced a surprising escape act in her first ever Australian Open qualifying match towards British opponent Yuriko Miyazaki however will enter the second spherical beneath a health cloud.

The Turkish-born 18-year-old collapsed because of extreme cramps in her legs throughout the second set when she held a 6-4, 4-1 lead, and was instructed to contemplate forfeiting earlier than she stubbornly performed on.

Ercan struggled to maneuver for the following three video games and Miyazaki introduced the set stage at 4-4, however the Australian Open newcomer pressured her method again via highly effective serving to win a second set tie-break 7-5 and advance to the following spherical.

Australian wildcard Dane Sweeny additionally scored a first-round win as he beat Italian Matteo Gigante in straight units, whereas late bloomer Li Tu misplaced his qualification bid in a decent 7-6 (13-11), 7-6 (7-4) loss to Germany’s Joris de Loore.

John Millman and 2023 Newcombe Medal nominee Storm Hunter are among the many Australians who will start their qualifying campaigns on Wednesday after their matches had been delayed because of Monday’s moist climate.