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The 2023 Swiss Indoors tournament kicks off on Monday 23rd October, and will run through 29th October. In this article, we would like to talk about the players who received wild cards into this year’s event.
What is a wild card in tennis?
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In every tennis tournament, there are players who qualify based on their ranking. A few other players who don’t make the cut will have to go through the qualifying rounds in order to reach the main draw.
Interestingly, there are players who didn’t qualify on merit, but still got direct entry into the competition, these players are called wild cards. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, here are the players who got the invite to the 2023 Basel Open as wild cards:
Felix Auger-Aliassime
To be fair, Felix Auger-Aliassime would’ve made it through to the main draw based on merit; especially considering he’s currently ranked inside the top 20 on the ATP rankings. However, the Canadian player didn’t enrol until after the deadline for registration; and because of this, he was awarded a wild card.
It’s fair to point out that while Auger-Aliassime came through as a wild card, he’s also the number six seed. The former World number 6 is the defending champion of this tournament; as he surrendered just one set en route to the title last year.
Felix Auger-Aliassime was on a 16 match winning streak at some point last year, winning three consecutive titles at Florence, Antwerp and Basel. Unfortunately, he isn’t coming into this year’s event with the same form; as he has as many wins as he has losses in his last six matches.
Dominic Stricker
Next on our list is Dominic Stricker. The 21 year old is currently ranked 96th in the world; and as such, he needed a wild card in order to reach the main draw. Being from Switzerland, it’s no surprise that he got the invite.
It’s important to note that the past few weeks have not been very kind on Stricker; as he’s coming into this tournament on the back of six consecutive losses. While Dominic Stricker will take on World number 163 Benjamin Hassan in the first round, it may interest you to know that he has a 0-2 record against his Lebanese opponent. Also, Stricker got a wild card into the doubles main event, where he’ll play alongside compatriot Leandro Riedi.
Leandro Riedi
Like Stricker, Leandro Riedi got a wild card in both the singles and doubles events. The 21 year old has lost three consecutive matches ahead of this tournament; he’ll square off against fellow wild card and defending champion Felix Auger-Aliassime in the first round. It’ll be fascinating to see how far Riedi will go in this competition.
Frequently asked questions about Basel Open 2023 wild cards
- How many players received wild cards into this tournament? Just like last year, there are three wild cards in this year’s edition of the Basel Open.
- What is a wild card in tennis? Players who are given direct entry into tennis tournaments when they couldn’t make it on merit are called wild cards.
- How far did the Basel Open wild cards go last year? Two of three wild cards crashed out in the first round, while the third wild card exited in the second round last year.
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