The Sunday Mail
In the wake of the French Tennis Federation’s decision not to give Maria Sharapova a wild card into the French Open, last week, a debate has risen within the sport about whether this is in actual fact a way of further penalizing her.
Steve Simon, the chief executive of the Women’s Tennis Association, maintains that the federation went too far. “They have an opinion, and they expressed it, and I don’t happen to agree with that opinion,” Simon said.
“I’m sure their position is because of what she was suspended for, they don’t feel she should be getting any special help, and by the way that they’ve expressed it, to me what they’ve done, in essence, is increase her penalty,” he said.
Sharapova returned last month from a 15-month suspension for a doping violation that had been reduced from a two-year suspension on appeal.
She was suspended in 2016 for taking meldonium, a heart medication that was banned on Jan. 1 of that year.
However, others have since rejected Simon’s interpretation of the French Open snub, including Nicole Gibbs, an American player and former star at Stanford.
“I don’t believe that withholding a wild card is a ‘penalizing’ action,” she wrote in an email. “A wild card is discretionary and not merit-based in nature, so it’s natural for public opinion and morality to creep into the deliberation process.
“By criticizing the French Open, the WTA is making a pitch for preferential treatment for Maria that would not be made for other players,” she went on.
Simon seems unmoved though.
“I think where we run into trouble,” he said, “is when we sign up for a program, and we agree to support the program and support the decisions that come from it, and then when the decisions come forward you decide to put your own spin on that and decide whether that’s enough or appropriate or interpret the decision.
“Then I think you are crossing the line,” he said Nicolas Mahut, a French men’s player currently ranked 48th in singles and fourth in doubles, also contested the WTA’s position.
“Excuse me, Monsieur Simon, but Mari Sharapova is neither penalized nor sanctioned by the F.F.T,” Mahut wrote in French in a twitter post.
“She is simply not invited.”
Sharapova declined an interview request through her management team on Wednesday, but she did post a fiery statement on her Twitter account.
“If this is what it takes to rise up again, then I am in it all the way, everyday,” she wrote. “No words, games, or actions will ever stop me from reaching my own dreams. And I have many.” Now, on the eve of the tournament; the decision not to give Sharapova the wild-card entry has been followed by other wild-card controversies surrounding the tournament. While French Tennis Federation President Bernard Giudicelli referred to “the high standards of the game” in denying Sharapova a wild card, the federation gave a qualifying wild card to French player Constant Lestienne, who received a seven-month suspension in 2016 for betting on tennis matches.
A year ago, his main-draw wild card was withdrawn by the federation because he was under investigation for betting. “Constant has paid his debt,” Giudicelli said.
“There is no reason, once again, to refuse him this wild card because he was part of the group, in terms of ranking, who were in contention.”
Paul-Henri Mathieu who plans to retire, had requested a wild card into the main draw of the French Open. The 116th-ranked 35-year-old was not given entry, but Julien Benneteau, who is the same age and ranked No. 103, was given entry.
I am acknowledging the decision of the FFT not to grant me a WC,” Mathieu wrote on social media. “Obviously, a WC is not a ‘right,’ but I am in complete disagreement with the manner and confusing explanations provided.”
Among the reasons given Giudicelli said that Benneteau had shown commitment, and had recently played Davis Cup. Former French Davis Cup captain Arnaud Clement was among those who questioned the decision.-Nytimes/tennis.com
