Tennis wild cards aren't so crazy - ask Justine Henin and Goran Ivanisevic!

What a great invention 'wild cards' in tennis are! A Wild Card is basically a free entry into a tournament where, based only on rankings, the player would either need to qualify or fail to gain entry into the tournament altogether.

Most tournaments give two or three wild cards to the main draw and another two or three into the qualifying draw. At Grand Slams eight wild cards are usually awarded to the main draws and a similar number in qualifying. How do you think Brits got so many entries into the first round of Wimbledon? Wildcards!

Tournament directors decide who should be given wild cards. A lot of 'free places' are given to top stars who are often recovering from injury and have dropped down the rankings. It is a way for top players to regain their position among the elite without having to qualify or play in smaller tournaments.

Often these players are good enough to play at a high level but just need the chance, and tournament directors are more than happy to give wild cards to players who are going to boost the media attention and pull in the crowds. Remember Wimbledon 2001 when Croatia's Goran Ivanisevic was awarded a wild card from the All England Club, and remarkably wednt on to win the  tournament.