Maria Sharapova is eligible to return from her doping suspension next month, and she will be guaranteed spots into tournaments despite no longer being ranked. Many people feel Sharapova should have to earn her way back, and World No. 1 Andy Murray agrees.
Sharapova has already been told she will be given wild cards to WTA tournaments in Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome. She’ll need a wild card to be eligible to compete in the French Open in May, as well. Murray doesn’t think she should get it.
“I think you should really have to work your way back,” Murray told The Times this week, via The Independent. “The majority of tournaments are going to do what they think is best for their event. If they think having big names there is going to sell more seats, then they’re going to do that.”
Sharapova is a five-time Grand Slam champion and one of the most recognizable faces in the sport. French Open officials said Thursday that they are still weighing their decision.
“It’s complicated. We prefer that she returns completely rehabilitated,” French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli said. “Integrity is one of our strong points. We cannot decide, on the one hand, to increase the amount of funds we dedicate to the anti-doping battle and, on the other, invite her.”
If Sharapova is granted a wild card for the French Open, she will have an opportunity to play her way back into the rankings in time before Wimbledon. Murray, a very outspoken critic of dopers, realizes that is playing a role.
“She (Sharapova) has an opportunity to try to improve her ranking and potentially not need a wild card (for Wimbledon),” he said. “But then if she doesn’t, that becomes Wimbledon’s decision and how they want to play that. I’m sure they’ll think long and hard about it and how they feel people will view it and then make the right decision for them.”
Sharapova tested positive for meldonium at the Australian Open in January 2016 and was suspended for 15 months. If you want to know how popular she is within the sport of tennis, look no further than this special edition water bottle. Money speaks louder than morals.
