Sharapova closing in on return to Wimbledon
Without her even being guaranteed entry into the field, some bookmakers were yesterday making Maria Sharapova favourite to win next month’s French open.
that is based on the evidence of her reaching today’s semi-finals of the Porsche tennis Grand Prix, in which she faces her first match with a potential grudge element, against Kristina Mladenovic. Should Sharapova win — following yesterday’s 6-3, 6-4 victory over Anett Kontaveit — then she will be guaranteed entry into the qualifying event for both the French open and Wimbledon. A direct entry into the main draw of SW19 is looking very achievable.
When Sharapova first admitted testing positive for Mildronate a year last March, feisty Frenchwoman Mladenovic went further than most in her criticism.
offering the view that ‘all the other players are saying she’s a cheater,’ Mladenovic at the time told Le Parisien: ‘She can play with words and find a good lawyer but on the principles of the situation, she’s wrong.’
Yesterday, asked if Sharapova should have received a wildcard this week, Mladenovic said: ‘i totally understand the tournament wanting her here because she is very famous. the question is why would she get that extra help compared to other players.’
Sharapova’s latest win came on the day that the tennis authorities announced they would substantially step up drug testing in the game. the timing might not have been entirely coincidental.
there will now be 8,000 tests per year and 250 players covered by biological passports. Equally significant is the fact that, belatedly, many of the samples will go into long-term storage for retroactive examination in the future.
When asked about the development, Sharapova replied: ‘that’s great,’ although she declined to say how often she had been tested in the past. her composure only slipped after she had poured praise on the coaching staff that have stuck with her. When Sports
mail asked if they had been upset that she had kept her long-term use of Mildronate secret from them, she fired back: ‘that’s such an inappropriate question.’
Everything on court, however, is going to plan, and she has made the semi-finals in Stuttgart without dropping a set.
Meanwhile, Andy Murray yesterday came back from the brink as he made the semi-finals of the Barcelona open.
the world No 1 defeated his conqueror in Monte Carlo, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6, at one point having been 0-40 on serve at 4-4 in the second set.
Murray was a break down in the third against the world No 19 but now faces last year’s French open semi-finalist, Dominic thiem.
British No 4 Aljaz Bedene won his 15th match in a row, beating second seed ivo Karlovic 6-4, 6-3 to reach the semi-finals of the AtP event in Budapest.