2017 Australian Open winner Roger Federer has given his thoughts on the debate surrounding whether Maria Sharapova should receive a wildcard for the French Open on her return from a doping ban. Sharapova, a former winner of the event, will not have a ranking strong enough to make it directly into the draw before the cut-off for players, leaving a wildcard as the only other way the former No.1 could make it into the draw for the year’s second grand slam tournament.
Sharapova is close to serving out her 15-month ban for using the prohibited drug Meldonium after it went from a legal substance to a banned substance
Federer, speaking at a Dubai press conference: “Could see it either way, depending on who you are, and don’t know if it matters what the cause was for being banned, because at the end, it’s all sort of the same. Banned is banned, you know. It’s a tough one. I really don’t know what to answer on that one, to be quite honest.”
These comments come after World No.1 Andy Murray offered a view that players returning from doping suspensions should be made to earn their places in main draws.
The French Open has not yet announced whether or not they will offer Sharapova the wildcard officially, though events in Madrid, Stuttgart, and Rome have all offered her a place in their draw.
