|
Mathieu, however, will be in the main draw after winning his
three qualification matches and he will take on Belgian David
Goffin in the first round.
"Enough with the farewell wildcards. 'Paulo' is not the future,
his career is more behind than ahead of him," Giudicelli, who
also denied two-time champion Maria Sharapova a wild card after
she returned from a doping ban, said earlier this week.
Mathieu, who reached the fourth round twice in Paris and led
Andre Agassi two sets to love in 2002 as he came close to a
quarter-finals spot, hit back on Saturday.
"Someone who says that knows nothing about high level," the
Frenchman, who reached a career high ranking 12 in 2008, told
French sports daily L'Equipe.
"I got injured -- hip and calf -- and could not play for six to
eight weeks but that, they don't know. I can't understand the
way they acted, it was totally disrespectful."
Nine-time champion Rafa Nadal maintains one of his biggest scare
at Roland Garros was in a third-round 5-7 6-4 6-4 6-4 win
against Mathieu in 2006 that lasted almost five hours.
The French Open starts on Sunday.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
