Kostyuk: “I wanted to play in such tournaments this year and more than once”

“To get to the 250 category tournament directly, you need to be outside the top 30. Each tournament 250 has two Wild Card, reserved for a tennis player with the top 20. To get a Wild Card for such a tournament with my current rating (WTA 26), I need to either invite it in advance or be a local tennis player or a champion of past years.

I wanted to play in such tournaments this year and more than once, but because of these rules it was impossible, ”Martha Kostyuk wrote.

WTA Rules for 2025 contain the following information on the possibility of participating the top 30 tennis players in WTA tournaments 250:

Each tennis player included in the FREEZE Deadline is entitled to two Examption Wild Card for a year that can be used to participate in WTA 250 tournaments.

In addition to the top 30 players, such a Wild Card can also claim:

To get such a Wild Card, a player or her team must submit an official request to Freeze Deadline. If done on time, the tournament organizers are required to provide one Examption Wild Card in the main grid.

Each WTA 250 tournament can issue no more than two such invitations. If the requests are more, the organizers themselves choose who to provide it.

Thus, even the world’s first racket can be declared at the WTA 250 – provided that it is included in its limit and that it has drawn up the Exemption Wild Card in advance. Such cases are often, especially when it comes to home -made tournaments or preparation for major competitions.

It should be noted that according to the rules, if the WTA 250 tournament is the same week as the WTA 500 tournament, then the top 30 tennis player can play on the WTA 250 only if it has not passed in the WTA 500 main grid, or if the special permission of the Play Down Exemption. Such cases include cases if tennis players: