{"id":2096,"date":"2017-04-22T12:54:31","date_gmt":"2017-04-22T16:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordontennis.com\/?p=2096"},"modified":"2017-04-23T10:12:10","modified_gmt":"2017-04-23T14:12:10","slug":"maria-sharapova-wildcard-roland-garros","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2017\/04\/22\/maria-sharapova-wildcard-roland-garros\/","title":{"rendered":"Maria Sharapova Deserves A Wildcard Into Roland Garros"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ever since it was announced Maria Sharapova\u2019s<\/strong> ban for a failed a drugs test at last year\u2019s Australian Open<\/strong> for meldonium was reduced, many questions have been asked surrounding her return to the game. Most have been answered. She will be back next week at the WTA Premier<\/strong> event in Stuttgart<\/strong>, an event which she won in 2012, 2013, and 2014, beating great players in Victoria Azarenka<\/strong>, Li Na<\/strong>, and Caroline Wozniacki<\/strong> in those respective finals.<\/p>\n

However, there is one big question that hasn\u2019t been answered, and that\u2019s if she will get a wildcard into Roland Garros<\/strong>. As it stands she has not only got one to Stuttgart, but additionally Madrid<\/strong> and Rome<\/strong>. To many, including world number eight Agnieszka Radwanska<\/strong>, she does not deserve one into Roland Garros<\/a>, saying that “She should win her place thanks to good results”.\u00a0Of course if we look at the WTA<\/strong> rulebook there is no exact requirement for why a player should get a wildcard, and that brings us to reasons why Maria Sharapova does deserve a wildcard into the only Major on clay.<\/p>\n

1. There are always \u2018undeserving\u2019 wildcards<\/h2>\n

The truth is every year, especially at the Grand Slams<\/strong>; many players who do not “deserve” to be in the draw get in. Reasons for this are perhaps unfair; Brits get wildcards to Wimbledon<\/strong> as we see every year and Australians into the Australian Open and so on. Just look at Alex Bogdanovic<\/strong> at Wimbledon<\/strong> with his wildcards, eight in total from 2002-2009 without a single win. If that is not as undeserving as a wildcard gets then I am not sure what is. So just because of their nationality they get in? Is that not unfair? How have they exactly \u201cwon\u201d their place, as Radwanska wants Sharapova to do.<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n