Former tennis world No.1 Martina Navratilova has urged players to stop focusing on Maria Sharapova after the Russian’s recent return from a 15-month doping ban.

Sharapova’s comeback has sparked widespread interest with current and former players offering their opinions on the 30-year-old, including men’s No.1 Andy Murray and Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard, who labelled the Russian “a cheater”.

Bouchard beat Sharapova in Monday’s second round of the Madrid Open, saying she felt partly inspired to win the match against the five-time major champion after receiving private messages of support from “people in the tennis world”.

“I think it’s time for the players to lay off Maria,” said 18-time grand-slam winner Navratilova.

“She made a huge mistake, paid dearly for it, ‘done the time’ and now let’s play ball,” Navratilova tweeted.