Former world No.1 Maria Sharapova should not be fast-tracked into next month’s French Open as she returns from a doping ban, insists Polish rival Agnieszka Radwanska.
With double French Open champion Sharapova currently unranked, all eyes will be on the French Tennis Federation (FFT) next month 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 to Reuters on Friday.
Sharapova makes her comeback to the WTA Tour after 15 months out in Stuttgart next week, after gaining a wildcard, and has also been given invites to play in Madrid and Rome.
Roland Garros organisers will be wrestling with the moral conundrum surrounding a wildcard – or free entry into the French Open – given that Sharapova is the biggest drawcard in women’s tennis given the absence of Serena Williams who earlier this week announced her pregnancy.
Nonetheless, 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 No.8 Radwanska told Poland’s sports daily Przeglad Sportowy.
“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 – a product she had used legally throughout her career to combat health issues – had been added to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of banned substances in late 2015.
Sharapova, 30, is likely to receive a lukewarm reception in Stuttgart next week with several players, including another former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, also questioning whether she should have received a wildcard.
Men’s world No.1 Andy Murray has also voiced his disapproval about Sharapova’s imminent return.
