French Open wildcards for Ball and Groth

Australia’s newest Davis Cup hero, Carsten Ball, has been awarded a wildcard into the main draw of the French Open.

Ball put in an outstanding performance during the Davis Cup tie against Japan on the temporary clay court at Pat Rafter Arena last weekend.

He won his first ‘live’ Davis Cup singles rubber against Yuichi Sugita, with his win in the fifth rubber over Tatsuma Ito taking his unbeaten Australian Davis Cup playing record to equal best, tieing 6-0 with Allan Stone.

Ball, currently ranked 119, misses direct entry to Roland Garros by just 12 ranking points. This will be his first appearance at the French Open.

Jarmila Groth has been granted the women’s wildcard.

Groth achieved a career-high ranking of 57 in July 2009 after reaching the third round of the French Open. She was sidelined with an ankle injury late in 2009 but has hit form recently, last week reaching the quarterfinal of the WTA event in Estoril.

A reciprocal agreement between the French Tennis Federation and Tennis Australia grants two Australian players main draw wildcards for the French Open which starts at Roland Garros on May 23. Wildcards were awarded to Ball and Groth based on recent form and results.

“Tennis Australia is delighted to award French Open wildcards to Carsten and Jarka,” Tennis Australia’s Director of Tennis, Craig Tiley said today.

“Both Carsten and Jarka have achieved some excellent results this year and they only just missed out on gaining direct entry to the main draw.

“It was great to see Carsten do so well on clay last weekend at Davis Cup, and Jarka has achieved her best Grand Slam results at Roland Garros.

“The opportunity to compete at the French Open will be another step in the development of both these promising players and we wish them well,” Tiley said.

The French Open begins on May 23 and will be broadcast from 7pm live on Fox Sports 3HD and Fox Sports 3.

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