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Maria Sharapova granted US Open wildcard

Maria Sharapova has been reckless to the point of stupidity. But does she deserve to lose her career? (Justin Smith / CC BY-SA 2.0)
15th August, 2017
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Maria Sharapova has been granted a wildcard invitation for the US Open main draw and will take part in a grand slam event for the first time since the 2016 Australian Open.

Sharapova is among eight women given entry into the 128-player field by the US Tennis Association – one of those wild cards will be awarded to an Australian after this weekend via an agreement with Tennis Australia.

The former world No.1 and owner of five major titles, including the 2006 US Open, has not entered a major tournament since the Australian Open in January 2016, when she tested positive for the newly banned drug meldonium.

That led to a 15-month doping ban, which expired in April. She returned to the tour, but her ranking – currently 148th – was too low to allow entry into major tournaments, and the French Open denied her a wild card. Sharapova planned to try to qualify for Wimbledon, but the 30-year-old Russian wound up skipping the grass-court portion of the season because of an injured left thigh.

Sharapova has been participating in tournaments via wildcard invitations, beginning in April on red clay at Stuttgart, Germany. She’s only played nine matches this season.

Sharapova was 19 when she won her US Open trophy. Two years before, at 17, Sharapova won her first grand slam title at Wimbledon.

She has since completed a career grand slam and become one of the most recognisable and marketable athletes in the world.

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