With the French Open just over a week away, the tournament, already reeling from the absences of Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka, will now be without another drawcard in Maria Sharapova.
The 30-year-old Russian was on Wednesday morning (AEST) overlooked for a wildcard in both the main and qualifying draws, meaning she will be absent from Roland Garros for the second consecutive year.
French Federation Tennis president Bernard Giudicelli Ferrandini said that while he was disappointed for Sharapova and her fans, he said it was his responsibility to “protect the high standards of the game”.
The Russian had not gained enough points from her three comeback tournaments in Stuttgart, Madrid or Rome to make it above the cut-off point for the qualifying draw of the year’s second grand slam tournament.
She had served a 15-month doping suspension, which had been reduced from two years on appeal, after admitting to taking the banned supplement meldonium at last year’s Australian Open.
Her return to the WTA Tour has been met with scathing criticism from many players, including Eugenie Bouchard, Roberta Vinci, Caroline Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwanska, among many others.
Bouchard was the most vocal of them all, saying recently that she was a “cheater” who shouldn’t be allowed back into the game.
However, tennis great Martina Navratilova was among the few, including Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka, who were in favour of the Russian, saying that she has served her time and that the criticism should stop.
I think it's time for the players to lay off Maria. She made a huge mistake, paid dearly for it, "done the time" and now let's play ball
— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) May 9, 2017
Sharapova defeated Christina McHale in the first round of the ongoing event in Rome before retiring in the third set of her second-round match against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni due to a thigh injury.
That followed the aforementioned announcement that she had been denied a wildcard into the French Open, where she was twice a champion, in 2012 and 2014, and a runner-up in 2013.
However, her result in Rome was enough for her to secure a place in the Wimbledon qualifying tournament, where for the first time spectators can buy a ticket to watch the event before the main draw starts on 3 July.
It will also lift her back into the world’s top 200 when the rankings are updated next week.
Sharapova’s absence from Roland Garros is another major blow to tournament organisers, with men’s 2009 champion Roger Federer announcing he would not play at the event for a second consecutive year.
The Russian was second-favourite in the odds, only behind Simona Halep, for the women’s title.
The women’s draw was already severely savaged by the confirmed absences of Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka, both of whom are on maternity leave, but two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova could yet appear in Paris after making good progress on her recovery from a broken hand.
The 27-year-old Czech, a semi-finalist at Roland Garros in 2012, suffered a left-hand injury shortly before Christmas last year after being attacked by an intruder at her home in the Czech Republic.
Kvitova announced last month that she had submitted her entry for the French Open and that she will be doing all she can to play in Paris.
Apart from the absences of Williams, Sharapova and Azarenka, world number one Angelique Kerber and defending champion Garbine Muguruza have also battled poor form in 2017.
Kerber has endured a mediocre start to the season, reaching just one final for the year in Monterrey and having her Australian Open title defence ended in the fourth round by Coco Vandeweghe.
Muguruza, on the other hand, dropped both her opening matches in Stuttgart and Madrid and is due to play Jelena Ostapenko in her opening match at the ongoing tournament in Rome.
The Spaniard, as well as Svetlana Kuznetsova and Francesca Schiavone, who will retire at the end of this year, are the only former champions in this year’s draw.
Taking all factors into account, it’s fair to say that the women’s field is wide open and that we could have a surprise champion like we saw with Schiavone in 2010 or Anastasia Myskina in 2004.
2014 runner-up Simona Halep is now the bookies’ favourite to finally land her maiden grand slam title at Roland Garros, ahead of defending champion Muguruza and world number one Kerber.
The Romanian last week successfully defended her title in Madrid and is due to play Stuttgart champion Laura Siegemund in her first match in Rome.
And while world number three Karolina Pliskova and the ever-improving Johanna Konta are also names to watch out for in Paris, both are yet to really prove their skills on the demanding clay courts.
Meanwhile, there are no surprises as to who the men’s favourite is.
With Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic both battling poor form so far this year and with Roger Federer announcing that he will not contest the French Open, nine-time champion Rafael Nadal will start as the rampaging favourite to claim a record-breaking tenth title at Roland Garros.
He has already claimed the ‘La Decima’ at Monte Carlo and Barcelona, and last week he won his fifth Madrid title. He is undefeated on clay so far this year, and if he does win Rome this week and the French Open later this month, he will finish the clay court swing undefeated for the first time since 2010.
A full preview of the men’s and women’s contenders and the draw analysis will be provided next week.
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