Qatar Open champion vows never to return in stinging statement against organisers | Tennis | Sport

Former Qatar Open winner Nikoloz Basilashvili has promised that he will never play in the country again after being denied a wildcard route into this year’s tournament.

Basilashvili clinched one of his five career ATP Tour titles at the 2021 Qatar Open, beating Roberto Bautista Agut in the final. The pair would meet in the final again the following year, with Bautista Agut prevailing in straight sets.

But those two eye-catching results were not enough to earn Basilashvili a call-up from Qatar Open organisers for this month’s event. The 32-year-old has not won a Tour title for nearly four years and has slipped down to 148th in the world rankings, but he still feels his prior success in the Middle East should have seen him included.

And he spoke his mind in a strongly-worded statement on social media, which read: “Hello everyone. I’m a little heartbroken to share that I was not able to get a wildcard for the Doha event, not even for the qualifying draw, despite winning the title in 2021 and reaching the final in 2022.

“I’m used to not getting anything the easy way, but this one hurts. I was the last one to miss the cut. I understand that money and sponsors play a role, but above all is common sense.

“Qatar, you’ve given me incredible moments and memories that I will keep forever. But I promise this – I will never return to compete here again in my professional career.”

Basilashvili boosted his prospects of getting into high-ranking tournaments by making it through Australian Open qualifying last month. But he was downed by Jakub Mensik in the first round.

The former world No. 16 once again made his case with a run to the quarter-finals of the Open Occitanie, where injury forced him to retire against Andrey Rublev. With a pair of underwhelming Challenger Tour appearances sprinkled in since the turn of the year, Basilashvili was not deemed worthy of a Qatar Open spot.