Sharapova agony No wild card for French Open – then injury forces her out in Rome
Maria Sharapova cannot have endured a worse day since the note arrived from the International Tennis Federation informing her that she had failed a doping test.
The pain began at 7pm local time, when Sharapova was refused a wild card into the French Open. It continued just over two hours later when a thigh injury forced her out of the Italian Open, leaving her poised to take part in Wimbledon qualifying on June 26-29.
Sharapova was playing Mirjana Lucic-baroni in the first round when she pulled up abruptly and left the court. She had heavy strapping applied to her left leg, but despite the treatment she was unable to finish the match. Depending on the severity of the injury, it is possible that her next appearance could be at Roehampton’s Bank of England Sports Ground.
As she leaves Rome, Sharapova has 310 ranking points, which places her at No171 in the world. In a normal year, players up to around 110 go straight into the main draw of Wimbledon, while the next 88 win a place in qualifying.
Theoretically, the All England Club could still hand Sharapova a wild card into the main draw. In practice, though, their hands have been tied by yesterday’s hardline announcement by the French Tennis Federation. It would look too much like appeasement if they rolled out the red carpet now.
The French Open decision came as a surprise after lesser events such as Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome, had fast-tracked Sharapova with wild cards. French federation president Bernard Giudicelli is thought to have taken personal responsibility for this verdict, with little reference to the tournament director, Guy Forget.
And he chose to occupy the moral high ground. “There can be a wild card for return from injuries, not from doping,” said Giudicelli, via Facebook Live. “I’m very sorry for Maria. I am very sorry for her fans. They might be very disappointed. She might be very disappointed. But it is my duty to protect the high standards of the tournament, the high standards of the game.”
Giudicelli was clearly not swayed by pragmatism. He might have wondered about the wisdom of turning a global icon away from a tournament that has already lost both singles champions from the Australian Open – Roger Federer and Serena Williams – as well as
Pain game: Maria Sharapova is also out of the Italian Open after she injured a thigh
grand-slam winners Victoria Azarenka and Petra Kvitova.
The women’s singles will be the most open grand-slam draw since the 1980s. Sharapova’s agent, Max Eisenbud, alluded to this last month in an email rant to an American tennis writer. “All these ‘journeyman’ players like Radwanska and Wozniacki who have never won a slam… they are smart to try to keep Maria out of Paris,” he wrote. “It’s their last chance to win a slam.”
The attitude of Eisenbud – and Sharapova – has played poorly in the locker room, with one player claiming yesterday: “Ninety-nine per cent of players are against her [Sharapova]”. Lucic-baroni is clearly one. “Maybe they should give a wild card to Lance Armstrong too?” she told the New York Times.