Maria Sharapova Denied French Open Wild Card; Retires From Rome Match with Left Thigh Injury
(May 16, 2017) Two-time French Open champion Maria Sharapova has been denied a wild card entry into the French Open.
French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli announced the decision during a Facebook Live video broadcast.
“I just wanted to tell you that I decided not to give to Maria Sharapova a wildcard – the wildcard that she asked me,” Guidicelli said.
“Nobody can deprive her two titles she won here in Roland Garros. But those two titles she (won) them according to the rules. I really read the articles, 101, of the CAS, which reduced her sanction. However we agreed with the independent tribunal panel that she has committed a violation of the anti-doping tennis program. And she had to be suspended for 15 months.
“Today that suspension is over and she can take her path towards the new success. But if there can be a wildcard for the return from injuries, then there cannot be a wildcard for the return from doping. So it’s up to her, day after day, tournament after tournament, to find the strength to conquer more titles without hold to anybody.
“I’m very sorry for Maria, very sorry for her fans, that might be very disappointed. She might be very disappointed, but it’s my mission to protect the game, and to protect the high standards of game played without any doped on the result.”
Sharapova, back from a 15-month doping suspension did receive wild cards into Stuttgart, Madrid and this week’s Rome event.
The Russian’s ranking was not high enough to make the qualifying event at Roland Garros, as she was out site the top 200.
Sharapova lost her second round match in Rome to No. 16 seed Miriana Lucic-Baroni 6-4 3-6, 1-2, when she was forced to retire with a left leg injury.
Sharapova did not have a news conference but out out the following statement:
“I thought it was pretty good match up until the end, which was obviously weird,” said Lucic-Baroni. “You never want to finish a match like that. I mean, it’s unfortunate. I wish her a speedy recovery. I hope it’s nothing bad.
“I thought we played well. I thought I played really well first set. Just kind of that one game where I made two double faults in a row in the second set to lose my serve. I kind of let it slip away a little bit the match from there.
“Yeah, that was my bad, but she’s a great player. She keeps that pressure on you and sometimes things like that happen.”
Asked about the decision of the French Open not to give Sharapova a wild card, Lucic-Baroni said:
“I am very much against doping of any kind. Very much. I feel like if you’re going to invest — like I think they are doing a million and a half or something, and if you want to give a wildcard to a person — nothing against Maria personally, nothing — but if you’re going to invest million and a half or 7 million into more doping tests and then you’re going to give a wildcard, it’s just — I think they would probably like to have her there, but they just can’t.
“And what is the point? What is the point of all this? What is the point of doing more tests if you award that?
“I think she’s a great player. I think she will come back. There is no doubt. She’s a great competitor.
“But you want to talk about proper and proper rules, and we are a tour that’s been a tour for a long time, the fact that there isn’t a rule on people who failed doping tests, and whether or not they can get a wildcard, whether or not they should, it’s a very strange thing because we are professional, and that should be in place.
“So I feel that it is the right decision. It is the correct decision. I feel it is, let’s say, brave of them, because everybody is pressured. People want to see Maria. That’s fine.
“But, you know, you have to do — if you want to do the right thing, you have to do the right thing. If you want to invest more money in doping tests, then you can’t award a person who failed a doping test no matter how you guys want to wrap it up and make it sound pretty, and it’s a mistake.
“You can do whatever you want to say. You fail a doping, you fail a doping. That’s it. I think there is — it’s really black and white. You guys make it, you know… It doesn’t go into my bank account or from it, so I can say honestly what I think.
“For some other people that write about it, maybe it affects their bank account. Maybe they have to write whatever they have to write. But this is black and white. There is no — there is no gray area. It’s simple. That’s the way I see it.”
Sharapova’s ranking, which was outside the top 200 coming into this week, is not high enough to be able to play the qualifying at Roland Garros. The French Open main draw begins on May 28.
INTERNAZIONALI BNL D’ITALIA – ROME, ITALY
RESULTS – MAY 16, 2017
Men’s
Singles – Second Round
F. Fognini (ITA) d [1] A. Murray (GBR) 62 64
[2] N. Djokovic (SRB) d [Q] A. Bedene (GBR) 76(2) 62
[6] M. Cilic (CRO) d R. Harrison (USA) 63 62
[9] D. Goffin (BEL) d F. Verdasco (ESP) 36 63 62
[12] T. Berdych (CZE) d [Q] C. Berlocq (ARG) 63 64
J. Isner (USA) d F. Mayer (GER) 76(4) 76(4)
Men’s
Singles – First Round
[13] J. Sock (USA) d D. Schwartzman (ARG) 64 16 75
[15] P. Carreno Busta (ESP) d G. Simon (FRA) 63 63
[16] A. Zverev (GER) d [Q] K. Anderson (RSA) 64 46 64
[PR] T. Haas (GER) d [LL] E. Escobedo (USA) 60 46 76(1)
B. Paire (FRA) d N. Mahut (FRA) 63 64
P. Cuevas (URU) d [Q] A. Mannarino (FRA) 64 76(2)
D. Ferrer (ESP) d F. Lopez (ESP) 46 63 61
R. Bautista Agut (ESP) d *[LL] A. Dolgopolov (UKR) 64 62
Men’s
Doubles – First Round
N. Mektic (CRO) / A. Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) d [WC] F. Gaio (ITA) / S. Napolitano (ITA) 76(3) 63
R. Bopanna (IND) / P. Cuevas (URU) d [WC] S. Bolelli (ITA) / A. Seppi (ITA) 64 62
B. Baker (USA) / N. Monroe (USA) d J. del Potro (ARG) / M. Matkowski (POL) 36 75 10-5
*[LL] A. Dolgopolov (UKR) replaced N. Kyrgios (AUS) – hip
Women’s
Singles – Second Round
[5] J. Konta (GBR) d Y. Putintseva (KAZ) 63 60
[7] S. Kuznetsova (RUS) d K. Siniakova (CZE) 61 76(3)
[16] M. Lucic-Baroni (CRO) d [WC] M. Sharapova (RUS) 64 36 12 Retired – left thigh injury
First Round
[Q] D. Gavrilova (AUS) d [10] M. Keys (USA) 26 75 75
J. Goerges (GER) d [13] K. Mladenovic (FRA) 76(6) 75
[15] K. Bertens (NED) d M. Niculescu (ROU) 26 62 61
[Q] A. Kontaveit (EST) d [Q] A. Petkovic (GER) 63 64
A. Sevastova (LAT) d I. Begu (ROU) 64 64
E. Makarova (RUS) d R. Vinci (ITA) 62 61
[Q] C. Bellis (USA) d M. Doi (JPN) 64 76(6)
[Q] J. Ostapenko (LAT) d S. Rogers (USA) 63 64
T. Bacsinszky (SUI) d T. Babos (HUN) 62 62
L. Davis (USA) d C. Suárez Navarro (ESP) 62 57 63
Women’s
Doubles – First Round
B. Krejcikova (CZE) / S. Zheng (CHN) d [5] K. Pliskova (CZE) / B. Strycova (CZE) 06 64 10-8
[PR] L. Arruabarrena (ESP) / A. Parra Santonja (ESP) d D. Gavrilova (AUS) / A. Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 36 64 11-9
[WC] J. Jankovic (SRB) / A. Petkovic (GER) d [WC] D. Chiesa (ITA) / S. Rubini (ITA) 75 62
[Alt] O. Savchuk (UKR) / E. Svitolina (UKR) d S. Aoyama (JPN) / C. Liang (CHN) 64 62
E. Hozumi (JPN) / M. Kato (JPN) d S. Stosur (AUS) / S. Zhang (CHN) 62 64
ORDER OF PLAY – WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 2017
CENTRALE start 12:00 noon
ATP – [7] K. Nishikori (JPN) vs D. Ferrer (ESP)
ATP – [Q] N. Almagro (ESP) vs [4] R. Nadal (ESP)
WTA – [1] A. Kerber (GER) vs [Q] A. Kontaveit (EST)
Not Before 7:30 pm
ATP – [3] S. Wawrinka (SUI) vs B. Paire (FRA)
Not Before 9:00 pm
WTA – [Q] J. Ostapenko (LAT) vs [3] G. Muguruza (ESP)
NEXT GEN ARENA start 11:00 am
WTA – [8] E. Svitolina (UKR) vs A. Cornet (FRA)
Not Before 12:00 noon
ATP – K. Edmund (GBR) vs J. del Potro (ARG)
WTA – L. Tsurenko (UKR) vs [9] V. Williams (USA)
ATP – [8] D. Thiem (AUT) vs P. Cuevas (URU)
Not Before 7:00 pm
ATP – [Q] J. Struff (GER) vs S. Querrey (USA)
PIETRANGELI start 11:00 am
WTA – L. Siegemund (GER) vs [6] S. Halep (ROU)
WTA – L. Davis (USA) vs [2] K. Pliskova (CZE)
ATP – V. Troicki (SRB) vs [16] A. Zverev (GER)
ATP – [PR] T. Haas (GER) vs [5] M. Raonic (CAN)
Not Before 5:00 pm
WTA – [4] D. Cibulkova (SVK) vs E. Makarova (RUS)
COURT 1 start 11:00 am
WTA – [Q] C. Bellis (USA) vs [15] K. Bertens (NED)
WTA – [Q] D. Gavrilova (AUS) vs C. Garcia (FRA)
ATP – [13] J. Sock (USA) vs J. Vesely (CZE)
ATP – [15] P. Carreno Busta (ESP) vs R. Bautista Agut (ESP)
ATP – [3] J. Murray (GBR) / B. Soares (BRA) vs J. Isner (USA) / J. Sock (USA)
COURT 2 start 11:00 am
WTA – [Q] M. Barthel (GER) vs [Q] Q. Wang (CHN)
Not Before 1:00 pm
WTA – J. Goerges (GER) vs J. Jankovic (SRB)
WTA – [14] B. Strycova (CZE) vs T. Bacsinszky (SUI)
ATP – N. Mektic (CRO) / A. Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) vs [8] I. Dodig (CRO) / M. Granollers (ESP)
WTA – [4] T. Babos (HUN) / A. Hlavackova (CZE) vs [PR] L. Arruabarrena (ESP) / A. Parra Santonja (ESP)
COURT 4 start 11:00 am
WTA – [WC] S. Errani (ITA) / M. Trevisan (ITA) vs C. Mchale (USA) / M. Niculescu (ROU)
WTA – [12] A. Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) vs A. Sevastova (LAT)
ATP – J. Sousa (POR) / F. Verdasco (ESP) vs D. Nestor (CAN) / E. Roger-Vasselin (FRA)
WTA – N. Hibino (JPN) / A. Rosolska (POL) vs [2] Y. Chan (TPE) / M. Hingis (SUI)
COURT 6 start 12:00 noon
ATP – O. Marach (AUT) / M. Pavic (CRO) vs [Alt] T. Huey (PHI) / M. Venus (NZL)
WTA – S. Kuznetsova (RUS) / K. Mladenovic (FRA) vs A. Groenefeld (GER) / K. Peschke (CZE)
WTA – After Suitable Rest – D. Jurak (CRO) / A. Rodionova (AUS) vs K. Bertens (NED) / J. Goerges (GER)
COURT 3 start 1:00 pm
WTA – K. Bondarenko (UKR) / K. Siniakova (CZE) vs [7] G. Dabrowski (CAN) / Y. Xu (CHN)
WTA – After Suitable Rest – [Alt] O. Savchuk (UKR) / E. Svitolina (UKR) vs [3] S. Mirza (IND) / Y. Shvedova (KAZ)