Daria Saville's blunt message as Arina Rodionova crashes out of Aus Open qualifying

Aussie tennis star Daria Saville has revealed she messaged Arina Rodionova after her compatriot's surprise wildcard snub at the Australian Open. Organisers of the year's first grand slam made the shock decision not to award Rodionova a wildcard and direct entry into the Melbourne Park grand slam, despite the 34-year-old being the country's top-ranked female player at World No.105.

That decision was somewhat vindicated on Tuesday when Rodionova crashed out in the first round of qualifying, going down to Leolia Jeanjean 3-6 4-6. Rodionova was ranked as low as World No.350 in February, but registered an impressive 78 victories from 104 matches in 2023, albeit on the lower-level ITF Tour.

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The Aussie veteran's impressive form saw her rise to World No.122 when the cut-off for rankings was made for the Australian Open, meaning she missed out on automatic qualification. In contrast, Saville was contentiously awarded an Australian Open wildcard ahead of Rodionova, despite being ranked well below her countrywoman at World No.195.

Saville spent a large chunk of 2023 sidelined with a serious knee injury but returned to court in June and just scored her biggest win in 18 months against World No.46 Anna Blinkova in the opening round of the Hobart International. Saville has been a local fan favourite at the Australian Open over the years, having risen to a career-high world ranking of 45 and the making the fourth round of the Melbourne Park grand slam for the second straight year in 2017.

However, the decision to award her a wildcard instead of Rodionova raised eyebrows across the tennis world, with the latter sharing her reaction on social media last week. "I wish I could say I am surprised. But honestly.. the satisfaction of achieving it all absolutely on your own, despite all this stuff...it is worth it," Rodionova wrote. "I will see you guys at Australian Open qualies in couple of day and I am pumped for this."

Daria Saville responds to Arina Rodionova snub

Speaking after her win against Russia's Blinkova in Hobart, Saville revealed she had reached out to Rodionova about the Australian Open wildcard snub. The 29-year-old said while she feels for her compatriot, there's no way she'd turned down the invitation to compete at Melbourne Park.

"I sent her a message, I said 'I'm so sorry'," Saville told reporters in Hobart. "I made a joke (saying) 'I'm so sorry but I'm not giving up my wildcard'. She sent a nice message back saying it is what it is and I want you to do well. It wasn't up to us and I think it was a really tough decision."

Saville's win over Blinkova marked just the second time she's beaten a top-50 player since returning from injury. The victory against the World No.46 is the Aussie's most impressive scalp since she ousted then-World No.7 Jessica Pegula at Washington DC's Citi Open in August 2022.

"It's my first top 50 win in a while. I have come close, so really nice after all of my injuries and so nice to be back playing at home," Saville said. "I can only get better ... I'm still building." Saville will face 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin in the second round after the American defeated Belgium's Greet Minnen 6-3 6-3.

with AAP

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