Maria Sharapova, who has been hopeful of receiving a wild card to play the French Open in May this year, could have to wait awhile for a chance to play in the tournament, with the president of the Federation of French Tennis, Bernard Giudicelli not so keen on giving the Russian the wild card.
Giudicelli’s line of reasoning follows his perception of the recent antecedents of the two-time former French Open winner, who is still serving the last phase of her 15-month ban. According to Giudicelli, who has been recently appointed as the President of the FFT, the French tennis administration invests over a million dollars in anti-doping measures and it would be contradictory to have Sharapova play the tournament, with these measures being enforced.
“It’s going to be complicated. Today, the decision has not been taken,” he further clarified regarding the current status quo of the 29-year-old’s possible participation at Roland Garros.
As it stands, Sharapova’s ban officially ends on April 25. She will play her first official WTA tournament on the 26th April at the Stuttgart Open, where she is a three-time former champion.
The former World No 1 has also received wild cards to play at the Madrid and Rome Opens as well, and there are talks about her receiving a wild card at Wimbledon, with Andy Murray firmly declining to stand behind that idea.