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LTA reveals world ranking inside top 250 no longer key to wildcard Wimbledon entry

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ANI London
Last Updated : Feb 10 2015 | 2:35 PM IST

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has changed the policy for selecting British players for a wildcard entry at Wimbledon, with a world ranking inside the top 250 no longer being enough for the same.

The LTA had previously advised the All England Club of the wildcard entries, with a policy to select top-250 players, but a spokesperson from the organisation said that it now plans to nominate those who have the best change of performing well.

Of the eight players given wildcards in the 2014 singles main draw, only Naomi Broady won her first-round match, the BBC reported.

LTA chief executive Michael Downey and director of player development Bob Brett, both of whom joined the governing body in the past two years, were known not to be fans of the previous criteria.

An LTA spokesperson added that this revised approach would enable the LTA to give consideration to attributes in addition to rankings, adding that these additional attributes would include attitude, professionalism, game development and recent form.

Improved prize money at the Grand Slams has made wildcards increasingly valuable, with last year's first-round losers taking home 27,000 pounds, the report added.

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First Published: Feb 10 2015 | 2:24 PM IST

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