PARIS(AP) Five years after winning the French Open, Gaston Gaudio received a wild card for the 2009 championship on Friday.
The 30-year-old Gaudio, now ranked No. 395 after a series of injuries, won the last of his eight ATP singles titles in 2005, the highlight of which was his stunning 2004 triumph at Roland Garros over Guillermo Coria in an all-Argentine, five-set final.
The championship starts on May 24. It is the second year in a row French Open organizers have given a wild card to a former champion. Last year, it was three-time winner Gustavo Kuerten as a retirement gift.
Gaudio was the last champion at Paris before Rafael Nadal began his domination. The top-ranked Spaniard welcomed his inclusion.
He deserves it because he won that tournament and he's a good clay player,'' four-time champ Nadal said from the Madrid Open.If anyone deserves a wild card he does and I'm happy that he was given it, he's a great person.''
Novak Djokovic said an in-form Gaudio was ``one of the few players that could really challenge (Nadal), even on this surface.''
Two other men's wild cards were given to American John Isner and Australian Bernard Tomic as part of an agreement between the French, U.S. and Australian federations.
The remaining five went to French players Adrian Mannarino, Josselin Ouanna, Laurent Recouderc, Guillaume Rufin and Alexandre Sidorenko.
In a similar arrangement for the women, Lauren Embree of the United States and Olivia Rogowska of Australia will join French players Claire Feuerstein, Kinnie Laisne, Emilie Loit, Kristina Mladenovic, Irena Pavlovic and Olivia Sanchez in the first round.