Tsvetana Pironkova said that she wished she was given a wildcard in Sydney, having won the tournament as a qualifier last year after winning eight matches in a row.
However, the Bulgarian was denied the request. She came to the tournament anyway and qualified again, knocking out three opponents to get into the main draw, and then winning three more.
"I was hoping that I would get," she said of the wildcard. "I applied but obviously didn't get it. I was a bit disappointed about that. Not a bit, a lot disappointed obviously. But that's something in the past. At one point I just said, Okay, focus on the tournament. It is what it is, so just play."
The world No. 37 is in the semifinals and will play Petra Kvitova, whom she beat here in Sydney last year. The former Wimbledon semifinalist says that not receiving the wildcard has her motivated to win Sydney again.
"It's good that after each win I feel better and better," she said. "That was obviously a motivation, because when I came here and even when I was back home, everybody was saying, 'Oh, you're going to get a wildcard. Don't worry.' I was like, 'I don't think so. It the doesn't look like it.' So everybody was shocked.
"But it's the decision that the tournament made, so I will go for it."