Andreas Seppi denied wildcard for farewell tournament in home country, left saddened by Italian Tennis Federation's stance towards retiring players

Andreas Seppi was denied a chance to bid farewell to tennis at his home ATP tournament after his wildcard request was denied by the Italian Tennis Federation. Earlier this week, the Italian tennis veteran announced that he is set to retire from professional tennis at the end of the month.

Seppi stated that the ATP Challenger event in Ortisei, starting on October 24, will be his last tournament on tour. He has now revealed that he wanted to say his final goodbyes by playing in his home tour-level tournament in either Florence or Naples, but the Italian Tennis Federation chose not to give the World No. 301 a wildcard for either of those events.

The 38-year-old further revealed the reasoning given to him by the federation for denying him a wildcard, which was their belief that a wildcard was "wasted" on a retiring player. Seppi took to social media to express his disappointment at not getting an opportunity to play a farewell tournament at home.

"I would have loved to play in the Florence or Naples tournament for my farewell to professional tennis, but unfortunately the Italian Tennis Federation did not allow me to, saying that 'giving a wild card to a retiring player would have been a waste'," Andreas Seppi wrote on Instagram.

Andreas Seppi via Instagram Stories.

The ATP Naples tournament is currently underway and is set to end on Sunday, while the Florence Open concluded this past weekend.

In his retirement announcement, Andreas Seppi admitted that the 2022 season has been highly challenging for him due to his reduced time on the court owing to constant injury issues. The former World No. 18 stated that his body cannot handle the demands of the tour anymore, forcing him to call it quits.

"It’s been a difficult season, especially in terms of my physical condition. Many ailments and little continuity. I realized that my body can no longer bear certain efforts and I have decided that the tournament in Ortisei will be my last one as a professional," Seppi wrote on Instagram.

"Pretty pathetic" - John Millman slams decision to deny Andreas Seppi a wildcard for farewell tournament

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Australian tennis star John Millman termed the decision not to give Andreas Seppi a wildcard for his farewell tournament in his home country a "joke." Millman highlighted that Seppi is one of the greats of Italian tennis who had a great career and represented the country at the Olympics and numerous Davis Cups.

"Andreas Seppi not getting a wildcard into a tour event in Italy to end his career is a joke. The guy has had a brilliant career, represented his country at Davis Cups and Olympic Games and the Italian Federation can’t give a WC? Pretty pathetic," John Millman wrote on Twitter.

Andreas Seppi won three ATP singles tournaments in his career and reached seven other finals. He was the first Italian player to win tour-level titles on all three surfaces. His career-high ranking was No. 18. While Seppi could never make it past the fourth round of a Grand Slam singles tournament, his victory over Roger Federer at the 2015 Australian Open was his biggest achievement at a Major.