17 May,2017 07:15 PM IST | Paris | AFP
Two-time champion Maria Sharapova will not play at Roland Garros this year after the French tennis federation denied her a wild card, FFT president Bernard Guidicelli said on Tuesday
Paris: Two-time champion Maria Sharapova will not play at Roland Garros this year after the French tennis federation denied her a wild card, FFT president Bernard Guidicelli said yesterday. The former World No. 1, who only returned from a 15-month doping ban last month, will miss the French Open, which she won in 2012 and 2014, for the second year in a row.
"Nobody can deprive her of her two titles at Roland Garros, but today I can't grant her the wild card requested," Guidicelli said.
"The titles she won were within the rules. While wild cards exist for players returning from injury, there is nothing for a return from a doping ban," he added. Sharapova was banned for two years for using meldonium, but the penalty was reduced to 15 months on appeal by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
