Tatjana Maria, the reigning Queen’s Club women’s champion, has revealed her shock at not receiving a wildcard to defend her title this week, suggesting her achievement in winning last year’s tournament should command greater “respect”.

The German was snubbed for a wildcard in favour of four lower-ranked British players, forcing her to go through qualifying in west London. A year on from winning the title aged 37, she successfully navigated back-to-back matches on Sunday to make it through to the main draw.

“I was pretty sure to get a wildcard, or I was hoping to get a wildcard, because I did it [win] last year,” she said. “It was not like five years ago, it was last year. To come back like a champion, I hoped, and I thought, I would get a wildcard.

“I was surprised when I got the message of [tournament director] Laura Robson saying all the wildcards would go to the British players, which I understand, of course, but as a champion, it’s tough for me [to accept]. With respect for me, I thought I deserved a wildcard.

“You have to respect the player in general. It is something that should be normal. If you are champion of an event and you don’t get in the year after, I think automatically this should be considered. It’s something out of respect.”

Maria’s victory provided a remarkable denouement to the return of women’s tennis to Queen’s for the first time in 52 years. Watched courtside by her two daughters, she embarked on a giant-killing run, defeating four top-20 opponents in a row to become the oldest WTA 500 champion in history. Incredibly, her triumph followed a nine-match losing streak heading into the tournament.

Her picture now hangs on the wall of an elite club that granted her honorary lifetime membership after her triumph.

“The response from everybody around was really huge when they knew I didn’t get the wildcard,” said Maria. “A lot of members here came to me and said: ‘Really, we don’t understand why you didn’t get the wildcard.’

“So it was super nice, from members, from players and from journalists, all around the world I got a lot of positive feedback. I was surprised about it and I was really happy that everybody said something to try to help me.”

Maria currently sits 52nd in the world rankings, 34 places higher than last year, but not sufficient to earn direct entry to the tournament. This year’s wildcards were granted to British quartet Katie Boulter (world No 73), Fran Jones (world No 98), Harriet Dart (world No 160), and Mika Stojsavljevic (world No 261).

An LTA spokesperson said: “The LTA owns and invests in staging these events for the benefit of the British game as a whole – so fans can see world-class international players from around the world, and support our British players, but also so British players are afforded the playing opportunities to progress their careers and climb the rankings.

“We have seen British success at these events, and breakthrough wins, so there is clear value in giving British players these development opportunities.”

Having come through her two qualifying matches, Maria will face the Greek former world No 3 Maria Sakkari in the first round, hoping that Sunday’s gruelling exertions might play in her favour.

“Yesterday was tough playing two matches in one day, especially on grass,” she said. “But it gives you time on the grass, because players at the beginning have not so much practice time on the grass courts.

“It’s good for me to have the two matches in my bag and to practise on the grass to get the feeling better. I hope it’s going to help for the next matches.”