"They offered Emma Raducanu that didn't even want it" - Fans upset over Iga Swiatek & Jan Zielinski being denied Paris Olympics mixed doubles wildcard
Iga Swiatek will not participate in the mixed doubles category at the 2024 Paris Olympics as the International Tennis Federation has denied a main draw wildcard to her and Jan Zielinski. Swiatek was originally scheduled to pair up with Hubert Hurkacz.
Hurkacz was set to play at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the singles and mixed doubles formats. However, the 27-year-old withdrew from the tournament after failing to recover from the knee injury he picked up at the Wimbledon Championships. That meant Poland lost its sole male tennis entrant at the Paris Olympics and forced the nation out of the mixed doubles category, in which Hurkacz was expected to partner Swiatek.
There was a slight possibility that Swiatek could compete in the mixed doubles with Poland's highest-ranked doubles player, Jan Zielinski. But that did not come to fruition either; tennis journalist Dominik Senkowski reported that the International Tennis Federation has denied the Polish Tennis Association's request for a mixed doubles main draw wildcard for Swiatek and Zielinski.
PZT also asked for a main draw wildcard in the men's doubles category for Zielinski and Kamil Majchrzak but that request was turned down too by the ITF.
Several tennis fans were angered by the decision. Some called it unfair on Zielinski, who is the reigning mixed doubles champion at the Australian Open and Wimbledon Championships with Hsieh Su-Wei.
One fan opined that Swiatek would have been better off partnering with Zielinski than Hurkacz given the former's pedigree. Another expressed surprise at the decision in the men's doubles wildcard case, given the lack of teams in that format in Paris.
"Heartbreak I genuinely believe they would have even a better chance than Iga-Hubi," a fan wrote.
"This is so crazy unfair man," said another fan.
"This is also a massive mess and honestly these doubles rules were always stupid, and then also rejecting the doubles wildcard for Jan and Kamil doesn't make sense either unless they plan on giving that space to someone else, at the moment they don't have enough doubles teams lol," a fan commented.
One fan claimed the ITF was being hypocritical in offering a wildcard - which is reserved for former Grand Slam champions - to Emma Raducanu, who rejected it, and not offering it to Zielinski, who currently holds two Majors. Another fan speculated whether the Pole would have been given a wildcard if he was from a different country.
"They offered a wild card to Raducanu that didn't even want it, but when a player who won two slams this year is excluded (because of his colleague's injury) wild card can't be offered?"
"I bet he would get one if he was british/american/italian..," another fan said.
Some fans also joked that the "establishment" is keeping out the talented Pole.
"Justice for Janek," one fan proclaimed.
"The establishment is not seeing the pearly gates i fear," another fan quipped.
"I will cry, I swear," a fan wrote on X (translated via Google Translate).
Iga Swiatek leads women's singles draw at Paris Olympics
While Iga Swiatek will miss playing mixed doubles at the 2024 Summer Olympics, she will still have a chance to take home an Olympic medal. In fact, the Pole is the prime favorite to bag the women's singles gold medal in Paris. She is the top seed in the category and virtually unbeatable on clay.
Swiatek will come to the Olympics after a disappointing third-round exit at Wimbledon, but that result will likely not have much impact on her campaign at Stade Roland Garros, where she has won four out of her five Grand Slam titles. The 23-year-old has lost just one match on clay in 2024 and bagged titles at the WTA 1000 tournaments in Madrid and Rome, in addition to her third straight French Open.
This will be Swiatek's second appearance at the Olympic Games. She was seeded sixth in the women's singles draw at Tokyo 2020 and exited the competition in the second round. The World No. 1 played in mixed doubles as well and reached the quarterfinals alongside Lukasz Kubot.