ASB Classic: Grand Slam champion Simona Halep gets wildcard spot

Simona Halep celebrates after winning the National Bank Open WTA tennis tournament final in 2022. Photo / Photosport

Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep, who recently returned to the tennis courts after 15 months away, has been granted a wildcard entry to the ASB Classic in Auckland.

The Romanian is one of three players to earn wildcard entry directly into the main draw, along with 17-year-old Slovakian Renata Jamrichova in the women’s field and exciting young Canadian Gabriel Diallo in the men.

The women’s WTA 250-level tournament gets under way at the Manuka Doctor Arena on Monday, December 30, after final qualifying, with the men’s ATP 250 tournament from January 6-11, 2025.

Halep, 33, who was World No. 1 for 15 months straight, returned to tennis in March following a successful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS Tribunal), who supported her case against a four-year ban.

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“Simona automatically qualifies for an exemption wildcard under her status as a former world No. 1 ranked player,” said tournament director Nicolas Lamperin. “Now she faces a long road to return to the sport, and we will do our best to ensure she enjoys her experience back in Auckland, both on and off the court.”

The Romanian has won 24 titles including two Grand Slams – the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019 – and has twice played at the ASB Classic in 2011 and 2013.

Renata Jamrichova, a 17-year-old Slovakian, joins the ASB Classic field as a wildcard.

Jamrichova is from the other end of the tennis spectrum, a highly promising teen who won the junior women’s titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year. She is the first Slovakian to claim the Wimbledon girls’ title and only the second female in the last 10 years to win multiple Grand Slam junior singles titles. She is already inside the top 400 players on the WTA rankings.

Diallo, 23, turned pro last year but has already rocketed to 87 in the world rankings, just outside the automatic qualifiers for the tournament.

Born in Montreal, his father is from Guinea and mother from Ukraine, and he ventured into tennis via a scholarship at the University of Kentucky.

Standing a commanding 2.03m, Diallo has won three Challenger titles, made the final in an ATP 250 and the third round at the US Open after winning three rounds of qualifying.

There is one additional wildcard spot for the men’s main draw, as well as a wildcard for both the men’s and women’s tournaments for the respective winners of the New Zealand playoffs.