The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Sharapova back after drugs ban
tennis: Russian to begin comeback with wild card at Stuttgart Open
All eyes will be on Maria Sharapova as she returns to the WTA Tour on the day she is eligible to compete again following a 15-month doping suspension.
The Russian created shock waves when she announced she had tested positive for the cardiac drug meldonium at last year’s Australian Open and the allowances being made on her comeback are dividing opinion.
As she has had her ranking suspended until her ban, reduced from two years on appeal, expires, the 30-year-old has had to rely on a wild card to compete at this week’s Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart. She begins her comeback today.
With the Madrid and Italian Opens following suit with wild cards, the decision to accommodate the five-time grand slam champion automatic entry to events she would otherwise not qualify for by ranking has drawn the ire of several prominent professionals.
Former world no 1 Caroline Wozniacki said last month the wild cards were “disrespectful” to other players while Agnieszka Radwanska suggested Sharapova should not be invited to grand slams.
The former world No 1, who rose to stardom by winning Wimbledon in 2004, admitted taking meldonium last March, insisting her only mistake was not realising the drug had been added to the banned list at the start of 2016.
But, asked if she expected the suspicion to linger for the rest of her career, Sharapova told Vogue last month: “I think if I was trying to hide something, I don’t think I would come out to the world and say I was taking a drug for 10 years.
“If I was really trying to take the easy way out, that’s not a very smart thing to do. But the answer to your question is, absolutely.”