Frosty reception awaits as Sharapova prepares for her return

SOME time on Wednesday Maria Sharapova will enter the women’s locker room for the first time since the Australian Open a year last January.

The reception is unlikely to be warm, although that will not bother her a jot.

She has never put any store on being popular among her peers.

The atmosphere could be especially frigid, as many of the others at the Stuttgart Grand Prix are decidedly nonplussed by her gatecrashing the event halfway through, while still being banned.

Not only that, but two of the game’s most respected players were yesterday given an ill-tempered volley by the Russian’s American agent.

Max Eisenbud — the man who famously admitted he used to check the banned substances list while sitting by the pool on holiday in the Caribbean — is not impressed by Caroline Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwanska’s criticisms of his client getting wild cards. In a statement to American tennis writer Ben Rothenberg he said: ‘All those journeyman players like Radwanska and Wozniacki, who have never won a Slam, see that the next generation are passing them. They are smart to try to keep Maria out of Paris. No Serena [Williams], no Maria, no Vika [Azarenka], no Petra [Kvitova], it’s their last chance to win a Slam.

‘But they have never read the CAS report and they never read paragraph 100 and 101. So they have no clue.’

Sharapova (left) was handed one of the kinder draws when she was paired with Italian veteran Roberta Vinci, whom she has played twice before and lost only four games.

Another win would open up the fascinating prospect of a second-round grudge match against Radwanska.

There is no question that her return will be a desperately-needed boost to the WTA Tour.

It was at a low ebb even before Serena Williams announced her pregnancy. Tournaments and sponsors are crying out for what Sharapova can bring.

Stuttgart is the first of her three wild-card appearances.