Sharapova fails drug test

Wolfs

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Ban reduced to 15 months.
 

ozgamer

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Maria's first playing gig

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scotslad

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She has gone the capriatti route whereby she went wild with drugs, however like capriatti hopefully she win a grands lamp or two on her way back.
 
Players annoyed by Maria Sharapova’s return to tennis

Kyle Schnitzer, NY Post
March 10, 2017 9:21am

EVEN if tennis fans cheer the return of Maria Sharapova, her rivals are conflicted.

The five-time grand slam champion is set to return to competition in April after serving a 15-month suspension for a drug violation. Sharapova is scheduled to debut the exact day her suspension ends, at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, where she will receive a controversial wildcard into the main draw.

The red-carpet treatment has many of the top women’s players dumbfounded. The wildcard entry seems to some like a gift for a player — even a glamorous global celebrity — who was caught cheating.

“It’s a little bit strange, the situation,” former world No. 1 Angelique Kerber said at this week’s tournament at Indian Wells. “I don’t know what to say about this. It’s a little bit strange also for the other players that someone can only just walk on site on Wednesday and play on Wednesday.”

Russian countrywoman Svetlana Kuznetsova hummed a similar tune. She is wary about a wildcard being given to a convicted doper.

“If we talk about cheaters, people who cheat, then you say, ‘Why would cheaters get a wildcard?’” Kuznetsova said. “(But) if (it was because of) some mistake, then it’s a little bit different story. But it’s really hard to say.”

World No. 1 Andy Murray also disagreed with tournaments handing out wildcards to the Russian.

“I think you should really have to work your way back,” Murray said in Dubai earlier this month.

It’s a sentiment at odds with the message coming out of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). The organising body for women’s tennis tweeted Sharapova’s rivals were looking forward to seeing her back on the court, a claim quickly shut down by Frenchwoman Alize Cornet.

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The WTA was forced into an embarrassing backflip and deleted its tweet, as did Cornet.

Tennis wildcards are often given to lower-ranked players from the country where a bigger tournament is held. They are also awarded to former champions, which explains why Sharapova, who won three consecutive Stuttgart Open titles from 2012-2014, is eligible.

Not all of the top ladies find the wildcard situation puzzling.

“She can receive wildcards because she was No. 1 in the world,” Romania’s Simona Halep said. “She’s a grand slam champion, but I think even if she doesn’t get wildcards she can come back easy.”

Sharapova, who tested positive for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open, had her two-year doping ban cut to just 15 months after she “bore some degree of fault” for the positive test.

Sharapova was distressed to learn she’d face an extended period of time out of the sport.

Originally published as Tennis’s embarrassing Sharapova backflip

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/t...s/news-story/a9d47a8c737843985642a11692918175
 
May 4, 2009
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I agree with Murray I don't think she should receive a wildcard to the French Open
its hard. i see both sides of the argument and both have points that i agree with. i would kill Hobarts tournament director if he didnt offer Pova a WC. but she has been found guilty of cheating(regardless of your view) and we should do all we can to discourage this sort of behaviour

just i am going to sit on the fence and be thankful i dont have to make that call.
 

pepsi

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Oh yes he did, he openly admitted taking AOD, people have teh right to voice their displeasure. And I'm sure there will be many people booing the Essendon returning players this season.
I wont argue with you as you clearly lack an understanding of the issue. Good on those who will continue to boo those players after they have served their penalties.

As for Sharapova, she has served her penalty and is welcomed back on the tour. Never liked her as a player due to her antics on court and im sure that wont have changed. Happy for the french federation not offering her a rg wildcard.
 
I wont argue with you as you clearly lack an understanding of the issue. Good on those who will continue to boo those players after they have served their penalties.

As for Sharapova, she has served her penalty and is welcomed back on the tour. Never liked her as a player due to her antics on court and im sure that wont have changed. Happy for the french federation not offering her a rg wildcard.

She took a banned substance. Just like your mobs playing group she deserves no sympathy.
 
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