ozgamer
Premiership Player
now, Kiki wasn't the nicest person to Maria when she was gone.
Like it matters. Kiki drinks from the same Bitch Kool-Aid as Sharapova does.
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now, Kiki wasn't the nicest person to Maria when she was gone.
No matter what your opinion is of Maria Sharapova, it’s hard to ignore that her comeback is a huge boost to the game—just one look at Wednesday’s sold-out crowd in Stuttgart confirmed that. After 15 months away, the Russian took out Roberta Vinci, 7-5, 6-3, on Wednesday night and then powered past Ekaterina Makarova, 7-5, 6-1, on Thursday.
“It’s a journey,” Sharapova said on Wednesday. “It starts today—actually it started for me a while ago—but officially today … I’m looking forward to playing as many matches as I can.”
Love her or hate her, the facts don’t lie. Sharapova was the highest-earning female athlete on the planet for 11 years, picking up million-dollar sponsorships and endorsements, winning five majors, reaching No. 1 and most importantly, amassing incredible popularity.
Former No. 1 Andy Roddick certainly believes that the wild cards are going to the right player.
“It seems a little naïve to me,” he said. “I have a hard time having people trying to play judge and jury after time has been served … Do I think she deserves a wild card? Sure. I think the wild card should go to the people who generate the most interest.”
Good article, I am not Sharapova fan but I agree she's good for tennis. She attracts publicity and sells.
Hmm. I agree that Sharapova is good for the WTA but I don't really buy this argument.And, this is why Maria is important to the WTA the other top seeds are struggling:
The Bad WTA seeds keep on stuttering: There are no easy draws in tournaments, and nor should there be. But tricky draws aside, these are worrying times for three big names in the WTA. Agnieszka Radwanska can barely buy a win these days, the same can be said for Garbine Muguruza (who has a lot of points to defend at Roland Garros), and then there’s Angelique Kerber. Yes, she’s the WTA’s presumptive No.1, but the German has been patchy at best in 2017, and on current form it’s surely only a matter of time before that ranking starts to slide. -
I understand the marketing and business behind it which is fine but it also can be said like your punishment doesn't matter.
All factors point to Maria being negligent at most. She stuffed up and copped a ban, if you look into her case she was always going to disagree with the decision (as anybody in her situation would). I really don't think she has to be apologetic for anything, and labelling her a drug cheat is pretty ignorant - even though she techincally is. Common sense tells you that she isn't a 'real cheater'. Bouchard seems extremely desperate for attention, which is a shame because all the signs pointed to her becoming one of the next WTA stars. Claiming Sharapova shouldn't be allowed to ever play again because she was using a drug that was allowed for decades is beyond stupid. This isn't absolving Maria from any blame, but I think it would be ridiculous to assume she decided to defy this new rule and continue to take a banned drug after being 'clean' her whole career.
But wildcards to a player returning from a doping ban is wrong. Wildcards into qualifying seem like the most reasonable option.
Well the FFT have decided NOT to grant Sharapova a WC for the French Open. Not even for Qualifying. Guess she can get an early start for her Wimbledon prep.
It really isn't.Bewildering decision!
Well the FFT have decided NOT to grant Sharapova a WC for the French Open. Not even for Qualifying. Guess she can get an early start for her Wimbledon prep.
It really isn't.
Have a look back at the French's stance on performance enhancing drugs. I'm not surprised they made the decision at all.
It really isn't.
Have a look back at the French's stance on performance enhancing drugs. I'm not surprised they made the decision at all.
Correct on PED stance but they have no issue with giving a WC to a player returning from suspension for illegal betting, i.e. Constant Lestienne, so when talking about "protecting the high standards of the game", the FFT jumped the shark in this regard. They should've just said "we felt other players were more deserving" and left it at that and as it happens, WTA CEO, Steve Simon got his whinge on with this: