Australia goes wild for drug cheat Maria
FORMER CHAMPION HANDED INVITE FOUR YEARS ON FROM FAILED TEST
MARIA SHARAPOVA has been handed a wild card at the Australian Open – four years after failing a drug test in Melbourne.
The 2008 Australian Open champion has slumped to world No147 after playing only 15 matches last season, and she was defeated by American qualifier Jennifer Brady at the Brisbane International on Tuesday.
But the box-office appeal of the five-time Grand Slam winner has seen her invited back to Melbourne.
“To have another chance, another opportunity to compete on all those courts is very special,” she said.
After missing the
2017 event through suspension, Sharapova qualified for the last two Australian Opens but failed to make it past the fourth round.The Russian was prevented from playing in the 2017 French Open after organisers did not grant her a wild card. Sharapova, meanwhile, joined fellow female players in criticising the decision to stage the Brisbane Open – held at the Queensland Tennis Centre – at the same time as the ATP Cup because the male matches were all played on centre court. “You definitely recognise it and notice it,” she said. “It feels like a little bit of a second-hand event. There’s a lot of girls that are deserving of that centre-court spot.”
Four of the world’s top five – including local favourite and French Open champion Ashleigh Barty – are in the field. Former US Open winner Sloane Stephens said: “It was what the ATP wanted. They got what they wanted – girls to the side.”
Jo Konta, who also lost her opening match in Brisbane, has pulled out of next week’s Adelaide International as a precaution over her knee injury.
The British No1 will go into the Australian Open without a win since the US Open last September.
Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki reached the doubles semi-finals at the ASB Classic in Auckland by beating top seeds Caroline Dolehide and Johanna Larsson 6-2, 6-1 in 51 minutes.