Sharapova may not get French Open wildcard

MUMBAI: Bernard Giudicelli, the recently-elected president of the French Tennis Federation (FFT), has said Maria Sharapova may not be given a wild card to play at the French Open this year, potentially her first Grand Slam after serving an anti-doping ban.

Sharapova is currently serving a 15-month suspension for testing positive for the use of banned substance meldonium. Her suspension is set to end on April 25 following which she will be eligible to play WTA tournaments.

Entry to tournaments is given on the basis of WTA rankings for six weeks prior to the start of the competition. Since Sharapova has not played professional tennis for an extended period of time, her ranking is too low to be given entry for tournaments.

However, tournament organisers can decided to give wild cards entries to players who are outside the required rank if they feel it will improve competition or prestige at the tournament.

Sharapova is set to play in the Stuttgart Open, beginning April 26, having been given a wild card entry. She was also given wild cards for the Madrid and Rome Opens. However, Giudicelli feels it is contradictory to make million-dollar investments in antidoping measures and then accept a recently suspended player like Sharapova back into competition without her having to work to get her ranking up to the required level. In a conversation with a French journalist via Facebook Live, Giudicelli said the decision was yet to be made on whether Sharapova would be given a wild card for the French Open.