Former world number one tennis player Maria Sharapova should not be fast-tracked into next month’s French Open as she returns from a doping ban, her Polish rival Agnieszka Radwanska says.
With double French Open champion Sharapova currently unranked, all eyes will be on the French Tennis Federation (FFT) next month.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that this will be when it decides whether or not to hand the 30-year-old a wildcard into the tournament.
A decision will be announced during “the week of May 15″, the French federation, which organises the tournament, said in a statement on Friday.
NAN reports that the French Open starts on May 28.
Sharapova returns to the WTA Tour after 15 months out in Stuttgart next week, after gaining a wildcard, and has also been given invitations to play in Madrid and Rome.
The Roland Garros organisers will be wrestling with the moral conundrum surrounding a wildcard — or free entry into the French Open.
This is because Sharapova is the biggest draw card in women’s tennis right now, and arguably much needed given the absence of Serena Williams who earlier this week announced her pregnancy.
Regardless, Radwanska believes entry to the year’s second Grand Slam tournament would be a step too far.
“Now in Germany, next in Spain, but so far she hasn’t been invited to play at Slams in Paris and London and in my opinion that’s how it should remain,” world number eight Radwanska said.
“She should win her place thanks to good results.”
Sharapova was originally banned for two years following a positive test for the newly-banned drug Meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open.
But the sanction was reduced to 15 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Last week she criticised the International Tennis Federation (ITF) for not doing enough to warn her that Meldonium was illegal.
She had claimed it was a product she had used legally throughout her career to combat health issues.
NAN reports that the substance had been added to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of banned substances in late 2015.
The 30-year-old Sharapova is however likely to receive a lukewarm reception in Stuttgart next week.
This is because several players, including another former world number one Caroline Wozniacki, have also questioned whether she should have received a wildcard.
Men’s world number one Andy Murray has also voiced his disapproval about the return of Sharapova.
“I’m not hiding my views. I think the same as Andy Murray,” Radwanska, who has beaten Sharapova only twice in 15 attempts, said.(Reuters/NAN)
