(ATR) French Open organizers deny Maria Sharapova a chance to play in the tournament later this month, saying "there cannot be a wildcard for the return from doping".
So said French Tennis Federation (FFT) president Bernard Giudicelli Ferrandini, as he announced the decision live on Facebook on Tuesday.
He says wildcards can be used for players returning from injuries but not those who are coming off a doping ban.
"I'm very sorry for Maria, very sorry for her fans," Giudicelli Ferrandini said. "They might be very disappointed, she might be very disappointed, but it's my responsibility, my mission, to protect the high standards of the game played without any doubt on the result."
The 30-year-old Sharapova is a former world number one and owner of five career Grand Slam titles, including the French Open in 2012 and 2014. She tested positive for meldonium at the Australian Open in January of 2016. The International Tennis Federation suspended her for two years but her appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport saw her ban reduced to 15 months.
She completed serving her ban on April 26 but has not accrued enough ranking points to be eligible for either the main draw or qualifying for Roland Garros. Her only chance to play was to be given a wildcard.
Sharapova was given wildcards to enter tournaments in Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome since her return last month. Some fans and fellow players are not happy that she is receiving them into the main draw, which allows her to bypass qualifying. Essentially, she is getting the same treatment as a player returning from a long-term injury.
Clearly, French Open organizers agree with that sentiment and have decided the British bookmakers’ second favorite for this year’s French Open won’t be eligible to play in it.
Sharapova did guarantee herself a place in Wimbledon qualifying with a first round win at the Italian Open on Monday. If she makes a deep run in Rome she could earn a place in the main draw.
Written by Gerard Farek
For general comments or questions,click here.
25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
