Despite being crowned twice in the most prestigious tennis tournament in France, the Russian beauty was still denied a special card by the organizing committee to participate in the second Grand Slam tournament this year.
Previously, the 30-year-old tennis player was banned from playing for 15 months due to a scandal over doping. This decision of the French Open also disappointed many Masha fans because not only did they not get to watch their idol compete at Roland Garros, but the possibility of this tennis player being able to get a " discount" ticket was almost non-existent.
Struggling may continue to haunt Sharapova as she was forced to withdraw from the Expanded Tournament against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni due to a thigh injury.
After the decision of the French Open, Wimbledon Open will also find it difficult to give special tickets so that Masha can directly join the draw group for the main draw. This almost means that the former world No. 1 will have to compete in the qualifying round like other little-known players to qualify for the official round.
Although many French audiences support the Russian player to win a special place to participate in the Roland Garros tournament, the new President of the French Tennis Federation - Bernard Giudicelli showed his toughness towards the Russian player when he only announced half an hour before Sharapova entered the competition in Rome.
"If there is an injury, we can give special tickets. However, it is unlikely that this ticket was given to the player who had just returned after being banned from playing for doping. It all depends on her own ability, every day, every tournament to regain her strength and conquer the titles without any help.
I feel sorry for Masha and her fans who may be very disappointed with this decision. But that is my duty to be able to protect and ensure the absolute quality of the tournament, Giudicelli said.
Two months ago, Giudicelli himself expressed the view that giving special prizes to players who returned after being found to be positive for doping could set a bad precedent at the French Open and other Grand Slams, while these major tournaments are continuously investing in fighting doping and sports fraud.
As for Wimbledon, fans will have to wait until the tennis subcommittee meeting will take place on June 20. However, Andy Murray - the most prominent member of the All England Club and also the current world No. 1 men's tennis player has clearly stated from the beginning that he does not agree with cheating tennis players in sports (for any reason). Murray believes that people with doping should mobilize themselves and start from zero.
To make these difficult decisions, the organizers of tournaments also have to have a headache calculating because Masha is the "trump card owner" who helps them both attract the media and the audience and earn a fortune from ticket sales. Roger Federer's official withdrawal from the French Open as well as Serena Williams' absence due to pregnancy also made the audience somewhat "thirsty" about this tournament.
Currently, Maria Sharapova has not reacted to this decision.
