Sharapova’s second tournament sparks a war of words among the WTA players

Both Eugenie Bouchard and Maria Sharapova are knocked out of Madrid, but a real feud has developed over the Russian’s second wild card tournament and many on the WTA tour are expressing where they stand on the Sharapova debate.

Genie Bouchard was on a hot streak since entering the Mutua Madrid Open, with her first win over Maria Sharapova, and she then followed that up with another pounding on Wednesday, 6-3, 5-0, against the top seed Angelique Kerber, who retired at the end of the second set. All this happened after Bouchard vocally called Sharapova a “cheater” and said if it was up to her, she would have banned her for life. Back-and-forth banter and tweets occurred, but the Canadian couldn’t sustain her momentum and was knocked out by Sharapova’s compatriot, Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarters 6-4, 6-0.

What makes all this even more interesting is the war of words being sparked by all these ladies, followed up or preceded by match wins as punctuation marks.

There have been many criticisms among the WTA players, but Bouchard’s were the most piercing. Sharapova was an idol for the 23 year-old growing up and her doping scandal clearly crushed the former number five player.

“She’s a cheater and I don’t think a cheater in any sport should be allowed to play again,” said Bouchard at a press conference at the Stuttgart tournament, where Sharapova played her first wild card a few weeks ago. “I think from the WTA it sends the wrong message to young kids: cheat and we’ll welcome you back with open arms. I don’t think that’s right and she’s not someone I can say I look up to anymore.”

To which Sharapova responded, “I am way above that.”

The feud didn’t stop there, Bouchard also told the press that she had the back of several WTA players on the tour.

“I definitely had some extra motivation going into today,” Bouchard said after the match. “I was actually quite inspired before the match because I had a lot of players coming up to me privately wishing me good luck, players I don’t normally speak to, getting a lot of texts from people in the tennis world that were just rooting for me. So I wanted to do it for myself, but also all these people. I really felt support.”

Ouch.

And sent out this celebratory tweet to make the point sink in.

Perhaps several of those women weren’t too impressed by what the Russian’s agent, Max Eisenbud, had to say about them, calling them “journeyman” players trying to keep Sharapova out because she was such a threat.

Considering that Eisenbud’s client didn’t make it past the second round in her first challenging tournament, so far she hasn’t proved she’s “Unstoppable,” as she describes herself in her upcoming fall biography.

Clearly some of the criticism has annoyed Sharapova, since she took to twitter afterwards and made her opinion known by liking this tweet, poking fun at Bouchard, calling her “insufferable.”

If Sharapova wasn’t able to send her biggest critic packing, her fellow countryman did. After her victory over the Canadian, Kuznetsova came to Maria Sharapova’s defense.

“Actually, first of all, I didn’t see Genie talking to players,” the 31 year-old player said after the match, according to Tennis Magazine. “I mean, Genie doesn’t talk much. That’s the way she is. She just goes, does her own thing.”

The two-time grand slam winner has been one of the few on tour to express support for Sharapova, and the two are on friendly terms.

“I don’t think the players, at our locker room where I change, nobody talks about it,” she said. Her opinion on Sharapova? “I’m happy she’s back. I’m happy she’s playing. I’m happy she’s doing great.”

Even tennis legend Martina Navratilova has stepped into the debate and urged us all to move on with this tweet:

But is this all such a bad thing? There are have been many complaints that the women’s game is missing some serious contenders. With several big names having sat out since last year, women’s tennis has been lacking compelling rivalries. The clashes between Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe used to generate many headlines. Dominant players become stars and on the men’s side, you have this in spades with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray. You don’t mind that the #nextgen players haven’t made much of an impact because the guys at the top are so captivating to watch. On the women’s side, variety is missing. Serena Williams is the undisputed star, but she has no rival, and the rivalry between Federer and Nadal is half of what made these two legends. And now, Ms. Williams is out, getting set to get married and have a baby.

So, I say, let’s bring on the fighting words! The fighting spirit is a breath of fresh air.