Rome hands Sharapova wildcard

The Internazionale BNL d’Italia – more commonly known as Rome or the Italian Open – has announced it will hand a main-draw wildcard to Maria Sharapova.

Sharapova, the Rome champion in 2011, 2012 and 2015, will in April return unranked from a 15-month doping ban.

The tournament, staged on 15-21 May, is the third tournament that has announced Sharapova as a wildcard recipient; Stuttgart and Madrid will also give wildcards to the five-time major champion.

We officially announce the Wild Card for the 3 times Rome's Champion @MariaSharapova into the main draw of #ibi17! #tennis #WTA #Sharapova pic.twitter.com/bxrPrjI6fJ

— Internazionali Bnl (@InteBNLdItalia) March 1, 2017

The speculation now turns to Roland Garros and Wimbledon, the next two big tournaments on the calendar.

Unlike the WTA tournaments in Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome, these Grand Slam events are governed by the ITF, the body which initially slapped Sharapova with a two-year ban before the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced that to 15 months.

A player can only gain a WTA ranking having played a minimum of three tournaments; although she will be ranked by the time Roland Garros rolls around, Sharapova will have missed both the entry deadline and ranking cut-off required to enter the tournament.

As a two-time French Open champion, opinion is divided as to whether Sharapova should be granted a main-draw wildcard in Paris.

“I think you should really have to work your way back,” said men’s world No.1 Andy Murray, who believes wildcards should not form part of the comeback process for players returning from a doping ban.

“However, the majority of tournaments are going to do what they think is best for their event.”

Depending on her results, Sharapova may have built her ranking up to the point where she won’t have to rely on a wildcard for Wimbledon entry.