Frenchman Arthur Gea has responded after learning that he will not be given a wildcard into the US Open, despite lifting his maiden ATP Tour title over the weekend and skyrocketing up the rankings. The French Tennis Federation and the United States Tennis Federation have an agreement to give each other reciprocal wildcards for their Grand Slam tournaments.
And the FFT has already confirmed that they have decided Gael Monfils, the retiring former world No. 6 who has dropped to No. 347 in the world, will be given the wildcard reserved for a French player in the men’s singles field in Flushing Meadows later this month.
Until this week, the world No. 347 had not played a match since then. Monfils was also granted a wildcard into the Canadian Open, where he stormed past Kamil Majchrzak in round one before losing to No. 12 seed Learner Tien in three sets.
The Frenchman has also been given a wildcard into the upcoming Cincinnati Open, and already knows that the FFT have put him forward for their reciprocal place in the US Open main draw. It’s been 10 years since Monfils reached the semi-finals in New York, and the showman is a crowd favourite wherever he goes, so it’s understandable that he has been given an opportunity to play the US Open one final time.
However, fellow French star Gea has been left feeling hard done by after proving himself on the hard courts in Los Cabos last week. When the entry deadline for the US Open passed last month, the 21-year-old was ranked outside of the world’s top 130 – too low to make the cut.
Gea has now skyrocketed 45 places in the rankings up to a new career-high of No. 82 in the world. Had the US Open entry list been made now, his place would have been guaranteed. But his efforts to become an ATP Tour title winner were not enough for him to receive the reciprocal French wildcard in Flushing Meadows, given Monfils’ impending retirement.
The newly-crowned Los Cabos champion shared a post on his Instagram story, which confirmed that Monfils had been given the US Open wildcard. “It’s a shame but we’ll go through the qualifications to come out stronger…” he wrote.
Gea, 21, also shared a second graphic from a tennis account, which read: “Ranked 82nd in the world after his title in Los Cabos, Arthur Gea will have to go through the US Open qualifiers.”
Before arriving in Los Cabos last week, the French star had won only three matches on the ATP Tour. But he won five in a row, beating world No. 20 Francisco Cerundolo in the quarters and reigning champion Denis Shapovalov in the final, to claim his first tour trophy and crack the top 100. “It is incredible. All of the emotions I got after the match were amazing. I can’t describe it at the moment, but it was crazy,” Gea told the ATP.