Former British number one tennis player Anne Hobbs has been left devastated after she flew from New York City to Paris in the hope of getting to London without quarantine - before England said it will open its doors to the US but not France.
The 61-year-old, who played singles and mixed doubles with Andrew Castle, has a boat ticket to Britain booked for the day the transatlantic rules are relaxed on Monday.
But her decision to fly to the French capital and Normandy on July 25 to see her daughter's boyfriend's family means she will not be able to enter the country without a ten-day isolation period.
She said 'every man and his dog is now allowed into the UK' but she cannot get here for just five days to meet her great-niece and great-nephew who were born in the last year.
The Nottingham native, who is a three-time Grand Slam doubles finalist and now coaches in the US, said she feels like 'I have met my Waterloo' and pleaded with Boris Johnson and Grant Shapps to revise the rules.
And she blasted Wimbledon - where she competed throughout the 1980s - and Wembley for hosting crowds with no social distancing or face coverings this summer.
It comes after it emerged France was only placed on the 'amber-plus' list because of Beta variant cases on the tiny Reunion Island 6,000 miles from Paris.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab openly admitted the classification was based on the prevalence of the strain 'in the Reunion bit of France' - an island in the Indian Ocean.
Currently, only travellers who have had two doses of a vaccine are permitted to enter the UK from an amber country - such as the US and most of the EU - without quarantining, except those returning from France.
But ministers this week decided to extend the exemption in England to those vaccinated in the US and most of Europe.
The 61-year-old, who played singles and mixed doubles with Andrew Castle, has a boat ticket to Britain booked for the day the transatlantic rules are relaxed on Monday
Ms Hobbs, who has had two doses of the vaccine in New York City, where she now lives, told MailOnline: 'My daughter, her boyfriend and I travelled to be with his family in Paris and Normandy with the intention to see my family in London.
'The plans were moving along very well until France went on the amber plus list. We have boat tickets and accommodation booked for London to leave on Monday August 2.
'It seems every man and his dog is now allowed to travel to UK without quarantine except us and anyone else coming from France.
'Most people who know me know that I am a very persistent and competitive person and I have met my Waterloo.'
She told how she has not seen her family since July 2019 and was desperate to meet her newly-born great-niece and great-nephew.
She said: 'I would be so happy to see for the first time, my two new family members, my great niece and my great nephew who were born this past year along with the rest of my family.'
The single mother also blasted the fact Wimbledon and Wembley were open to crowds of revellers who did not have to social distance or wear face coverings during the Grand Slam and the Euros.
Ms Hobbs said: 'Through television I witnessed thousands of fans at Wimbledon and Wembley this summer with no social distancing or
